Noah Syndergaard held the Pirates to one run Sunday, in what was his fifth straight start of throwing seven innings and surrendering three earned runs or less. The Mets’ 13-run outburst gave Syndergaard a massive lead, and with an economic pitch count and great defense behind him, he cruised to his eighth win of the season.

Syndergaard began July with a 4.68 ERA, but he has since looked like the dominant pitcher the Mets expected to see. In his last five starts, Syndergaard has pitched to a 1.79 ERA.

“I think it’s just execution of my pitches,” Syndergaard said to reporters about his recent success. “Throwing everything with conviction as well as just trying to guide and aim balls to where I’m going to throw them.”

Holding the Pirates to just three hits in seven innings, Syndergaard was outstanding, but not quite as electric as his 11-strikeout gem on Tuesday against the White Sox. The Mets pitcher, who normally strikes out at least five in most outings, struck out only three in Sunday’s rubber match.

The Mets’ explosion on offense allowed Syndergaard to challenge batters to hit balls in play. With 14 of the batted balls against Syndergaard being either ground outs, fly out or pop ups, the Texas native had a stress free afternoon.

“When the offense explodes like that…it changes the way I go about and pitch my game,” Syndergaard explained to reporters.

In the first inning, the Mets’ jumped out to a 3-0 lead before their flame thrower fired a pitch. Syndergaad’s outing began with Adam Frazier flying out, and the red-hot rookie, Bryan Reynolds smacking a single to center. But the right-hander escaped damage by getting the next two batters to ground out and end the inning.

In the third inning with the top of the order coming up, Syndergaard got the opposing pitcher Joe Musgrove, and second baseman, Frazier to pop out, and fly out, respectively. He finished off the inning with a strikeout to Reynolds, who reached base in all five of his plate appearances on Saturday.

The seventh inning had a rough start with a double off the bat of Jose Osuna with one out away, but with a ground out by Melky Cabrera it seemed as though he would get out of the inning unscathed and keep his shutout. However, a single from Colin Moran scored Osuna for the Pirates first run of the game. A groundout from Erik Gonzalez ended the inning and outing for the young starter.

The Mets have been on a tear recently with a 9-1 record in their last 10 games. While the road is still an uphill climb, as they face a pesky Marlins team and plethora of teams above .500, their odds will certainly increase if Syndergaard keeps pitching like this and the offense continues to click.

“The offense we have coming back to the city is going to be really interesting, and we are going to have fun doing it,” Syndergaard said to reporters.

The team is optimistic that they can make a run at the second wild card, and rightfully so given they are only three games out in the race. The 28-20 team at home will return to Citifield for a six-game homestead against the Miami Marlins and Washington Nationals.