The Mets split their weekend series with the Pittsburgh Pirates, taking the middle two games of the four-game set.
With a record of 44-45, the Mets are in third place in the National League East, 13.5 games behind the first place Philadelphia Phillies. They are also two and a half games behind the Padres for the final Wild Card spot.
In other Mets news, the All Star teams were revealed over the weekend, and the Mets only current representative is first basemen Pete Alonso. While it is hard to argue Alonso’s popularity, in New York as well as nationally, it is also hard to argue that he was the most deserving member of the Mets to represent them in Texas. Alonso will also take part in the Home Run Derby, looking to win for the third time.
A case can be made for Francisco Lindor. As he has in other seasons, his 2024 was off to a very bad start before he recovered and has put together a quality first half of the year. Lindor, along with Bobby Witt Jr. of the Kansas City Royals, are the only shortstops in history to have 25 doubles,15 home runs, and 15 stolen bases prior to the All-Star break. Witt Jr. has been named an All-Star, Lindor has not. In the field, his .976 fielding percentage is sixth among NL shortstops. He has played in 88 of the team’s 89 games.
There is a good chance Lindor ends up making the team as a replacement for Mookie Betts of the Los Angeles Dodgers, who will miss the game with a broken hand.
Here is a rundown of each game of the Pittsburgh series:
Game 1: Pirates 14, Mets 2
Following a 1-0 loss to the Nationals to end the last series, the Mets brought their slump to PNC Park and the Pirates. Rookie phenom Paul Skenes of the Pirates made a strong case to be the NL starter in the All-Star game, and Pittsburgh hit so many home runs (seven) that they had to apologize on the video board for running out of fireworks. That development was the only unfortunate part of a great game for the Pirates in just their second sell-out of the season. The Mets dropped their third straight game, and it was their fifth loss in seven games since Edwin Diaz was suspended.
The Mets offense provided an early spark, jumping out to a 2-0 lead with a run in the third and run in the fourth. Jeff McNeil, who has had a tough season, hit his fifth home run of the season in the third inning, off Skenes, and Jose Iglesias (of OMG fame) grounded into a fielder’s choice to score Alonso in the fourth. The offense produced only five hits while striking out 11 times.
On the mound, Luis Severino got the start and went six innings. Over the six, he was charged with seven runs on nine hits and two walks to go along with three strikeouts. With the loss, he is 5-3 on the year with a 3.83 ERA. Starting the seventh, Severino loaded the bases and was replaced by Jake Diekman who promptly gave up a grand slam and put the game out of reach at an 8-2 score. Ty Adcock entered the game and went 1.2 innings, getting charged with six runs on five hits and two walks to go along with a strikeout. The best pitching line of the game belongs to catcher Luis Torrens who retired the final batter of the bottom of the eighth on a groundout. For the Pirates, the home runs were aplenty. Bryan Reynolds and Rowdy Tellez made history, as the only teammates to have multiple home runs (two each) including a grand slam in the same game. Reynolds (six RBIs) and Tellez (five RBIs) accounted for 11 of Pittsburgh’s 14 runs. Other homers were hit by Yasmani Grandal, Michael Taylor (four for four on the day), and Jack Suwinski.
Skenes went seven very strong innings for Pittsburgh. Over the seven, he surrendered just two runs on four hits with two walks and eight strikeouts. Picking up his fifth win to move to 5-0, his season ERA is 2.12 and the two earned runs he allowed were the most he allowed in a start in exactly a month (three against the Dodgers on June 5th). Daulton Jefferies pitched two scoreless innings to finish up.
Game 2: Mets 5, Pirates 2
One of the best, and most underrated, pickups for team President David Stearns this year has been Torrens. He has contributed offensively, defensively, and even pitching in the prior game. In this Mets victory, Torrens delivered three hits, including a bases-clearing, three-RBI double to put the Mets up 3-0 in the third inning.
In addition to Torrens’ big game at the plate, the other two Mets runs were driven in by Iglesias and Harrison Bader. Brandon Nimmo contributed three hits as well.
David Peterson made the start for the Mets, going only 4.1 innings across 87 pitches. He allowed two runs on five hits and two walks with five strikeouts. Jose Butto came on to finish the fifth and took the sixth inning too, earning the win. Following that was likely the bullpen lineup manager Carlos Mendoza is most comfortable with at this point. Reed Garrett pitched a shutout seventh, Dedniel Nunez a scoreless eighth, and Diaz made his return from suspension to pick up his eighth save of the season in 12 chances.
Runs were much harder to come by in this game for the Pirates. Following the prior game’s 14 run onslaught, both of the Pirates runs were scored on a towering home run by Oneil Cruz that ended up in the Allegheny River. Reynolds continued his strong series with a two for three day.
Pirates starter Bailey Falter came out of the game in the third inning with arm discomfort. Dennis Santana came on and gave up the big hit to Torrens to start the scoring. Falter’s line was two innings, three runs on five hits with two walks and two strikeouts. Santana went two innings of relief without giving up an earned run (all three runs were charged to Falter), Ryder Ryan followed with three innings (two earned runs), finished up by Josh Fleming with two scoreless innings.
Game 3: Mets 3, Pirates 2
This was a no-quit win for the Mets, who finally took a one-run lead, had their struggling closer recently off suspension give the lead to the Pirates, and then had Lindor deliver the game-winning hit in the ninth.
Lindor’s three for four day drove in two of the Mets three runs, with a two-run RBI single to turn a 2-1 deficit to a 3-2 lead. The other New York run was driven in by Nimmo.
Sean Manaea was solid on the mound for the Mets. He went six innings, throwing 89 pitches while giving up only two hits (no runs) with three walks and six strikeouts. Garrett followed with a scoreless seventh. In the eighth, Nunez put runners on first and second with two outs. Diaz entered with the plan of a four-out save. Instead he walked the first batter he faced and gave up a two-run single to Nick Gonzales to put the Mets behind 2-1. Diaz then got out of the eighth and pitched a scoreless ninth for his fifth blown save and third win of the season.
Other than the Gonzales two-RBI single in the eighth, there was not much notable on the offensive side for Pittsburgh. Ke’Bryan Hayes had two hits for the Pirates.
Following a game where the Pirates bullpen had to chip in seven innings, Luis Ortiz chipped in with some decent innings. He pitched six shutout innings, giving up only four hits with no walks and five strikeouts. He was followed by Carmen Mlodzinski, who pitched a scoreless seventh. Colin Holderman gave up an RBI double to Nimmo in the eighth, and Aroldis Chapman took the loss via Lindor’s big hit in the ninth. Kyle Nicolas came on to get the last out of the top of the ninth.
Game 4: Pirates 8, Mets 2
The loser of the first three games of the series scored two runs, and this game was no different. The Pirates scored five times in the sixth inning and Mitch Keller went eight strong innings for Pittsburgh in the win.
While the Mets produced eight hits on the day, Nimmo’s two-run home run in the sixth tied the game at two at the time. Nimmo had two hits for the game, which was equaled by Francisco Alvarez, and Mark Vientos. McNeil and Bader had the other Mets hits.
Christian Scott started for the Mets and was cruising until the fourth inning, when he gave up a two-run homer to Cruz. In the sixth, Scott retired the first two batters he faced, but Mendoza replaced him with Eric Orze. Orze, in his major league debut, allowed a run and put runners on first and second without recording the third out. Adrian Houser came on and allowed four more runners to score before getting the final out of the sixth. At that point the Pirates led 7-2. Houser allowed one more run in the eighth.
The Pirates spread the wealth interns of producing in this game. Cruz’s two-run home run was supplemented by two hits by Gonzales (one RBI) and a two-RBI day by Joshua Palacios. Tellez contributed the other RBI.
Keller made a rare eight-inning start for the Pirates. Over his 107 pitches, he gave up seven hits with no walks, to go along with six strikeouts. Brent Honeywell relieved Keller in the ninth and pitched a scoreless frame, giving up only one hit.
Looking Ahead
Following the series split in Pittsburgh, the Mets return home to face the Washington Nationals. These teams just played in Washington prior to this most recent series and split the four games. This will be a three-game series, and the Mets expected starters are Jose Quintana, Luis Severino, and David Peterson. The Nationals come in to the series at 42-49, which is 16.5 games behind the first place Phillies in the NL East and 5.5 games out of the last Wild Card spot.
Stats by espn.com
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