The Mets are in a bind with their rotation, especially heading into the final week before the All-Star break.

Before that week gets underway, the team asked Corey Oswalt to take the mound for Game 2 of Sunday’s doubleheader. It was his first start of 2021.

Oswalt started the game all fine and dandy, setting down the two-through-four batters — the juggernauts of the Yankees’ order — with ease after a leadoff single. The second inning is where Oswalt ran into his trouble.

Luke Voit hammered a double to center, then Rougned Odor dragged a bunt for a single, bringing Voit to third. It didn’t really matter where the base runners were for Gio Urshela, though, because he skied an 0-2 fastball over the short right field wall.

Already ahead in the count, Oswalt did his job in getting the fastball up and out of the zone. Urshela connected, though, and the ball had just enough velocity and loft to put the Yankees up 3-0.

ESPN2’s Statcast broadcast said the ball Urshela hit was the highest ball off the ground hit by a Yankee player this season. Freakin’ look at how high that is:

In most parks, that’s probably a sac fly, but you don’t get to choose your dimensions as a pitcher, and Oswalt gave up his first large chunk of runs this season on the 346-foot homer. (Before today, Oswalt threw 6 1/3 innings and allowed just a run over two relief appearances.)

Oswalt cranked out four strikeouts over his next nine batters, including three in a row against Gary Sanchez, Giancarlo Stanton and Voit. He retired his last eight batters in a row. His final line ended up with three earned runs on four hits, one walk, and four strikeouts in four innings pitched.

The 27-year-old continued using his fastball in heavy doses–a new trend this season as he’s thrown the pitch about 56 percent of the time. It was 54 percent Sunday and no more than 48 percent of the time every year from 2018 to 2020. He also peppered his fastball inside the zone (the home run notwithstanding, of course), and that, with his changeup contrasting it and dropping out of the zone, helped him notch four strikeouts.

The Mets are likely going to need Oswalt to throw a couple of more innings later this week, particularly Thursday on short rest, if that’s the route they decide to go. After Friday’s game was cancelled and the doubleheader formed on Sunday, the Mets will have starter openings on Wednesday and Thursday. Oswalt only threw 65 pitches Sunday night, so he may be able to come back a day early to eat a couple of more innings for the depleted rotation.