Mandatory Credit: Joe Camporeale-USA TODAY Sports

Kevin Gausman is one of baseball’s best pitchers this season. With an 11-5 record and a 2.29 ERA in 137.1 innings, Gausman has made a real case to be the National League Cy Young.

While he mostly dominated in 2021, he has had a few rough outings. Perhaps his worst start of the season occurred less than a month ago against the Pirates. On July 24 at Oracle Park, Gausman lasted just 4.1 innings. He allowed six earned runs on eight hits, walked four batters and allowed a home run.

They key for Pittsburgh? Extra base hits and capitalizing with runners in scoring position — two areas where the Mets have performed woefully this season.

Four different Pirate batters doubled — two of them off Gausman. The Buccos also tripled, while Gregory Polanco hit a long ball. As for extra base knocks, the Mets have also not hit a triple since June 3 — a span of futility that earned them a Major League record.

While the Mets are currently in an offensive slump, there is reason to believe this team can regroup against Gausman.

In the Pirates dominant win in the Bay Area, they were aggressive at the plate early on. Adam Frazier led off with a single on the game’s first pitch. The top of the lineup displayed patience when needed as well. Ke’Bryan Hayes and Bryan Reynolds both walked in the inning on 3-2 counts.

In Pittsburgh’s next run-producing inning, they turned a double and two singles into two more runs.

Small ball helped the Pirates prevail in this contest. In fact, their lone home run did not occur until the fifth inning. Gausman did not record another out, and was removed three batters later.

Based on what the Pirates did right in their win, it will be vital for the Mets to get going early. Look for Brandon Nimmo, Pete Alonso and the rest of the top of the order to work the count, hammer out base hits and get on by way of singles, maybe some doubles and drawing walks.

The Giants are a homer-happy team on the offensive side, but Rich Hill has been solid at limiting homers in his brief stint with the Mets thus far. He’s allowed two homers in four starts, both coming in his start against the Reds.

This is a very specific game plan based on the result of just one Pirates win, but if a struggling team like the Buccos can hit Gausman hard, the Mets might be able to do the same with the right mindset and execution.