Mets Throw Away Another Shot At A Win

Pittsburgh– The scary thing about watching a team playing bad baseball is that there may be a lower point to reach. While the New York Mets hoped that they had hit rock bottom after a devastating loss against the Atlanta Braves last night, things got worse tonight. The Mets (30-34) essentially threw the game away early, handing the Pittsburgh Pirates (33-29) seven runs off of defensive miscues in the first three innings on their way to a 14-7 loss that wasn’t nearly as close as the final score indicated.

In a rarity this season, the Mets actually scored first when Mark Vientos delivered an RBI single off Rich Hill to put the Mets in front. Starter Tylor Megill ran into trouble in the second inning when he put two men on but induced a high fly ball to right field off the bat of Austin Hedges. Starling Marte simply couldn’t track it down, however, allowing the ball to fall for a two-run ground rule double to make it 2-1 Pittsburgh. Francisco Lindor tied it up in the following frame with a solo homer (12) off Hill but made a costly mistake in the bottom of the inning.

Following an infield single from Andrew McCutchen, Lindor fielded a ground ball hit right near the second base bag by Carlos Santana that should have been an easy inning-ending double play. Lindor booted it, however, keeping the inning alive and forcing Megill (L, 5-4) to throw more pitches. Ke’Bryan Hayes made Megill pay immediately, roping a two-run single to give Pittsburgh the lead back at 4-2. With runners at second and third with one out, Ji Hwan Bae laid down a safety squeeze to plate a run. Eduardo Escobar, getting a rare start at third base, made things worse by throwing the ball away and allowing the back runner to score before Bae advanced to third. An RBI single plated Bae, making it 7-2 and digging the Mets a massive hole.

That would prove to be plenty of run support for Hill (W, 6-4), who allowed just two runs in seven strong innings against his former team. The Pirates had extended the lead to 12-2 by the time Hill left the game and made it 14-2 in the bottom of the eighth with solo home runs from Santana and Jack Suwinski. The Mets did manage to put up five in the bottom of the ninth off of former Met Rob Zastryzny and Pirates’ closer David Bednar, who was getting work after not pitching in five days, but the game was essentially over when the Mets spotted Pittsburgh seven runs with extra outs.

Player Of The Game:

Today’s Player of the Game award goes to Pirates’ third baseman Ke’Bryan Hayes, who went 5 for 5 with four RBIs and three runs scored.

Post-Game Notes:

Four different Pirates recorded multiple hit games, headlined by Hayes’ five-hit night.

This is the first time the Mets have lost seven in a row since June of 2019.

What’s Next:

The Mets will look to stop their free fall and even their series with the Pirates tomorrow afternoon. Kodai Senga (5-3, 3.75 ERA) will face off with Johan Oviedo (3-4, 4.29 ERA) in the pitching matchup. First pitch for the middle game of this weekend set is scheduled for 4:05 p.m. at PNC Park.