Mets Defeat Pirates 4-3 Behind Díaz’s Five-Out Save

The New York Mets (91-55) defeated the Pittsburgh Pirates (55-90) for a second consecutive night at Citi Field. The Mets got great pitching from the combo of Taijuan Walker and Edwin Díaz.

Friday night’s game started as a pitchers duel between Walker and Mitch Keller. Walker breezed through the first three innings and did not allow a base runner until Rodolfo Castro singled with two outs in the fourth inning.

The Mets were able to get to Keller in the third inning when Eduardo Escobar scored from first on a Tomás Nido single. Nido’s RBI single ended Keller’s 17-inning scoreless streak that started against the Mets on Sept. 6 and gave the Mets a 1-0 lead.

New York added another run off of Keller in the bottom of the fourth inning when Daniel Vogelbach launched an opposite-field solo home run to give the Mets’ a 2-0 lead. With this home run, Vogelbach ended a streak of 44 at-bats without a home run.

The Pirates were able to scratch out a run off Walker in the top of the fifth inning behind a defensive miscue and a pair of soft singles. With two runners on and nobody out, Michael Chavis would bring home Ke’Bryan Hayes with a weakly hit single that did not leave the infield to cut the Pirates’ deficit in half at 2-1.

The Mets’ offense would stay persistent against Keller and add one more run in the sixth inning. With runners on the corner and one out, Pete Alonso brought home Brandon Nimmo on a sacrifice fly to center field to increase the Mets’ lead to 3-1. That would be all for Keller, who ended the night allowing three earned runs in six innings pitched.

New York would add to their lead in the bottom of the seventh inning when the Pirates had their own defensive miscues. With runners on the corners, after Escobar doubled to lead off the inning and Oneil Cruz booted a Nido ground ball, Nimmo would drive in a run with a pop-up base hit to increase the Mets’ lead to 4-1.

Walker was on the cusp of a brilliant night and went back out to the mound for the top of the eighth. Cruz, however, would end Walker’s night after he launched a two-run home run to cut the Pirates deficit to 4-3. Walker’s start against the Pirates went better at home, and he finished the night with five strikeouts in 7 1/3 innings pitched and only two earned runs allowed.

Buck Showalter would call upon his closer, Edwin Díaz, for a five-out save. The Mets closer proved reliable once again, striking out two batters through 1 2/3 innings pitched. The scoreless outing for Díaz lowered his ERA to 1.43 on the season and notched him his 30th save for the season.

Player of the Game

Díaz earned Friday’s player of the game honors. The Mets closer recorded a five-out save to cement the Mets in first place for tonight. It was his third save this year of at least five outs for Díaz.

On Deck

Chris Bassitt (13-8, 3.44 ERA) will take the mound on Saturday for the Mets. Bassitt will look to bounce back after giving up five earned runs in 3 2/3 innings against the Chicago Cubs.

Pittsburgh will counter with Bryse Wilson (3-8, 6.03 ERA) this Saturday. Wilson recently faced the Mets on Sept. 7 and gave up four earned runs in six innings.

The game starts at 7:10 p.m. ET and will be available on SNY, WCBS 880, and WEPN.