The New York Mets looked to start a winning streak against the Pirates on Tuesday after winning the opening game of their series against the Bucs on Monday. However, the Mets bullpen had a disastrous seventh inning, allowing the Pirates to score six runs and eventually pull away with a 7-4 victory.
New York entered the seventh inning with the score tied a 1-1 and sent José Butto back to the mound for his third inning of work. However, after pitching 2 1/3 scoreless innings before, Butto started to fade. He walked Andrew McCutchen to lead off the inning, then loaded bases after allowing a double to Connor Joe and a walk to Liover Peguero.
With the bases loaded and only one out, Buck Showalter brought Grant Hartwig into the game, who immediately opened the floodgates for Pittsburgh. Before throwing a single strike, the right-hander walked Jack Suwinski on four pitches, hit Jared Triolo on the first pitch of his at-bat, and then threw a ball in the dirt that Francisco Álvarez couldn’t block to bring in Peguero to increase the Pirates lead to 4-1.
After allowing three runs without recording an out, the inning got worse for Hartwig. He allowed a two-run double to Jason Delay and an RBI triple to Bryan Reynolds, bringing the Mets’ deficit to 7-1. Hartwig was pulled from the game after allowing three earned runs and six total to come home in the seventh. The right-hander only retired one batter in his outing, a fly-out from Hayes.
The six-run seventh inning from the Pirates was enough to stave off the Mets’ comeback attempt. DJ Stewart and Jonathan Araúz hit back-to-back home runs in the bottom half of the seventh to bring the Mets within three runs, but New York came up short.
Before the Mets trailed by six runs, Brandon Nimmo hit his 17th home run of the season to give New York a shortly-held 1-0 lead. His 17th home run of the season matched his season high that he set back in 2018.
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The Pirates’ offense pestered the Mets all night. Besides scoring seven runs, the Pirates recorded nine hits and 10 walks. The score could have been more lopsided, as the Bucs stranded 12 of the 22 men they put on base.
David Peterson was the main culprit of the 10 walks allowed. The left-hander allowed six total in his start against the Pirates, further displaying his command issues. On top of all the walks, Peterson only pitched 3 2/3 innings on Tuesday, logging a second consecutive start where he failed to pitch into the fourth inning.
Meanwhile, the Mets’ struggles against left-handed starters continued on Tuesday against Bailey Falter. The former Phillie struck out five batters and allowed only one run in 5 1/3 innings of work. Coming into tonight’s matchup, the Mets as a team were slashing .235/.309/.386/.695 against Southpaws.
Claustrophobic
The Pirates put an astounding 22 men on base in Tuesday’s matchup against the Mets. Six of those base runners came via walks from David Peterson, who had an unsustainable 1.609 WHIP and 3.9 walks per nine coming into his start on Tuesday.
On Deck
The Mets will send Tylor Megill to the mound for the rubber game of the series. The right-hander had a rough outing in his last start, allowing five runs in 5 1/3 innings to the red-hot Atlanta Braves. Meanwhile, the Pirates will counter with Johan Oviedo, who allowed six runs in five innings in his last outing against the Cincinnati Reds.
First pitch for Wednesday’s game is scheduled for 1:10 p.m. The game will be televised on SNY and MLB Network (blackout restrictions apply). The radio broadcast will be on WCBS 880
