The Mets (24-21) were swept out of Pittsburgh this afternoon by the Pirates (21-22) by a score of 9-1.
In the series, the Mets were outscored by their opposition 21-4, and struck out 38 times in only 27 innings. It is also the first time since 1969 that three Pirates starters in a row have struck out 10 or more batters in a game.
Jon Niese started the game for the Mets and pitched okay until the fifth inning when he let up a two-run home run to the red hot Andrew McCutchen and an RBI single to Francisco Cervelli.
Niese’s final line has him going 4.2 innings, allowing four runs on seven hits, while walking four and striking out six. He falls to 3-5 on the season. Niese has now let up sixteen earned runs in his last three starts.
The Mets were dominated yet again, this time by Francisco Liriano, who struck out 12 batters over six innings, and only allowed one run.
The Mets had opportunities to really break through against the southpaw, including the second inning when there were runners on second and third with no out, and they couldn’t convert, and in the fifth when they had the bases loaded and John Mayberry struck out to end the inning.
The Pirates broke the game wide open in the sixth when Starling Marte hit a three-run home run off of Erik Goeddel.
The Bucs tacked on two more runs in the seventh off of Sean Gilmartin with a sacrifice fly from Josh Harrison and a single from Corey Hart that just got beyond Wilmer Flores‘ reach at short.
The last thirteen Mets were retired by Pirates pitching, and just like we’ve seen so much of recently, the Mets were blown out and showed little to no offensive production.
You can make excuses all day for why the Mets are doing poorly, but at the end of the day you have to accept the fact that they just are completely lost up there, and something needs to be done before this team completely free falls.
The Mets will look to get their act together tomorrow afternoon with Bartolo Colon (6-3, 4.85 ERA) taking on Severino Gonzalez (2-1, 7.11 ERA). First pitch is at 1:10 PM.
