The New York Mets (20-26) won the opening game of their series against the Pittsburgh Pirates (22-27) by a score of 8-1 on Friday night at PNC Park.

Pitching:

Jacob deGrom (3-1, 3.56 ERA) took the ball for the Mets after his start was pushed back a day due to the threat of rain.

He threw a gem as he went 8 1/3 innings, struck out 10, and gave up a run on six hits and one walk.

Terry Collins pulled him in the ninth with his pitch count at 118. The lone run he gave up came on a Gregory Polanco home run in the fourth.

DeGrom’s start marks the longest of any Mets starter in 2017.

Fernando Salas finished the game for deGrom by retiring his only two batters faced.

Offense:

The Mets took on Chad Kuhl (1-4, 5.85 ERA) and knocked him out of the game after 4 1/3 innings.

Lucas Duda led off the second inning with a double and Curtis Granderson drove him in with a single to center.

In the next inning, former Pirate and Pittsburgh native, Neil Walker hit a two-run homer to right field to put the Mets up 3-0. The home run was his first at PNC Park since his time with the team.

The Pirates cut the Mets lead to 3-1 in the fourth, but the Mets pulled away further in the fifth.

After Jose Reyes led off the inning with a triple, Jay Bruce hit a sacrifice fly to center. Walker then followed with a solo home run to right center; his second of the game. After the homer, Kuhl left the game with a 5-1 deficit.

The Mets added three more runs in the sixth. Walker drove in his fourth run of the game with a single on a fly ball to left. Duda followed with a double to right center which plated Bruce and Walker.

Walker led the offense as he went 3-for-5 with three runs and four RBI. Duda and deGrom both had multi-hit games as well.

On deck:

Zack Wheeler (3-2, 3.74 ERA) will take the mound for the Mets on Saturday at PNC Park after receiving a requested extra day of rest.

He will take on Pirates ace Gerrit Cole (2-5, 3.36 ERA) who is coming off a five run, 10 hit performance in 4 2/3 innings during his start against the Atlanta Braves.

The game will be televised on FOX with first pitch scheduled for 7:15 p.m.