Marcus Stroman had his least productive start of the season last time out against the Phillies, giving up four runs (two earned) in just three innings over 74 pitches. He was placed on the bereavement list after the game so he could spend time with his family following the death of his grandmother.

He returned to the rotation Sunday in Game 1 of the day’s doubleheader against the Yankees and was able to fight deeper into the game as he continues to get back on track with his first dozen or so starts of the year.

Stroman threw five full innings while opposing Gerrit Cole (who didn’t make it out of the fourth). The Yankees scored five runs off Stro, though just three were earned as the defense hindered him with errors in his second straight start. The Mets have committed three errors over Stroman’s last eight innings, which have led to four unearned runs.

One of those errors came in the third inning. Gio Urshela hit a ground ball to Francisco Lindor, but Lindor made a poor throw to second base, which allowed Giancarlo Stanton to reach safely. Gleyber Torres grounded out to Lindor next for a fielder’s choice, and rather there be two outs with a man on first (or out of the inning after Urshela’s ground ball could’ve been a double play), there was a man on first and third with one out.

Stroman hit Brett Gardner with a pitch to load the bases, then Kyle Higashioka knocked two in with a double. Tim Locastro, who the Yankees just acquired this week, hit a sacrifice fly next to give the Bronx Bombers a 3-1 lead.

He limited damage in the fourth inning by getting Stanton to hit into a double play with men on first and third and no outs, though a run scored on the play to put the Yankees up 4-1. The Mets tied it in the next frame, but the Yankees got the first two men on again in the bottom of the fifth, and D.J. LeMahieu scored on a wild pitch.

The wild pitch was indicative of Stroman’s control, which was all over the place Sunday, particularly on his breaking pitches. He threw 24 sliders (out of 87 pitches). Only eight were swung at. The Yankees were seeing the pitch well and were not really missing when they swung at it. (This was a general trend for Stroman on the day, though, as he didn’t notch a strikeout at all through his five innings.)

The wild pitch ultimately came on a slider, too, and 13 of the 24 sliders were balls.

He left the game after the fifth down 5-4, but the Mets came back in the top of the seventh against Aroldis Chapman and Lucas Luetge to let Stroman off the hook for Game 1.

Stro felt confident in the team heading into the last frame, though, noting “there’s no sense of panic ever with this team” in the press conference after the game. “Everybody knows what they’re capable of,” he continued, “and the energy gets transferred from player to player. … Everybody knows we can get back in the game at any point.”

They came back Sunday in Game 1, and it brought the team’s record to 43-36 while also securing a series win over the Yankees in their ballpark.

Stroman is now 6-6 on the year through 17 starts and 93.1 innings. His 2.60 ERA is third on the Mets behind Jacob deGrom and Taijuan Walker. He wasn’t named to the National League All-Star team despite a good resumé, and he used his platform to express disappointment with Walker not getting a nod to the team.

The righty will likely make one more start before the All-Star break on Friday against the Pirates (or Saturday should he want an extra day’s rest) to close what’s one of the best halves of the 30-year-old’s career.