Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports

A day after being humiliated by the bottom dwelling Bucs, The Mets took two in the Keystone State to regain their slim lead over the Braves in the NL East.

Coming off a three-game skid, Ohio born Chris Bassitt stopped the bleeding in Game 1 with a masterful seven innings of one run ball along with 10 strikeouts and a walk. Brandon Nimmo and Pete Alonso, skipper Buck Showalter’s line-up experiment, batting second, started things off with an infield single and double to left, eking out a sole run off of Jeff McNeil’s sac fly.

New York broke it open in the fourth when Daniel Vogelbach, who donned a Pirates uniform in July, singled to center, Mark Canha got plunked by opposing pitcher Bryse Wilson, and Tyler Naquin, filling in nicely for injured teammate Starling Marte, launched a four-seam fastball to center – followed by Eduardo Escobar’s solo rocket to right to take a commanding 5-0 lead.

The Pirates bloated ERA laden pitching staff quieted the Mets for the remainder of the game, but the damage was done and a sigh of relief was felt all the way from the North Shore of Pittsburg to the Borough of Queens.

In the nightcap, Jacob deGrom bested Bassitt with seven magnificent frames of shutout ball surrendering three hits, striking out eight and allowing one free pass. And for a pleasant change of pace, the high heat right-hander was gifted a rare abundance of offense – a cushion of nine runs before handing it over to the bullpen.

Francisco Lindor, who’s flailed of late at the plate, got reacquainted with his lumber, delivering a pair of doubles in the second and fourth for a three RBI night.

Escobar had a banner day going 4-for-5, McNeil 3-for-5 maintaining a .318 average, Alonso 2-for-4, Naquin 3-for-5 -every NY position player contributed to the scoreboard via walks, wild pitches, and just damn good timely hitting. The Mets may have left 13 on base, but 10 made it home outscoring the Bucs a combined 15-1.

Adam Ottavino and Alex Claudio – the two Shakespearean sounding relievers kept the shut out intact in the eighth and ninth with a bevvy of sliders, changeups and curves.

So for now, the boys of Flushing are back. Except for the Braves and Brewers the rest of the season appears like a piece of cake – however, as we saw with the Nats and the Bucs first game of this series, that’s only on paper.