Nolan McLean made his first start of the 2026 season. Although he wasn’t at his sharpest, he still delivered a solid performance. He pitched five innings, allowing four hits and two earned runs while striking out eight batters. One of the earned runs came from a home run hit by Brandon Lowe, marking the first time McLean has given up a homer to a left-handed batter.

Out of the bullpen, Huascar Brazobán and Sean Manaea combined to keep the Pirates scoreless through the eighth inning. In his season debut, Manaea threw 29 pitches and averaged 88.7 mph on his fastball, down from 91.7 mph last year.

Luke Weaver handled the ninth inning, working through a challenging 22-pitch frame that included a leadoff walk and a sacrifice bunt. However, he ultimately escaped unscathed, striking out Oneil Cruz and getting Bryan Reynolds to groundout. Mets pitchers totaled 12 strikeouts during the game.

Offensively, the Mets were quiet, scoring just twice in the first eight innings while striking out 16 times and leaving seven on base. Their only runs came from a Marcus Semien sacrifice fly in the second inning and a Juan Soto RBI single in the fifth, which followed a triple by Francisco Lindor. After striking out in each of their first two at-bats, Lindor and Soto later teamed up to tie the game and chase Carmen Mlodzinski from the mound. Lindor, Soto, Luis Robert Jr., and Brett Baty each recorded multiple hits, while Luis Torrens contributed one hit for himself.

After a scoreless bottom of the ninth, Richard Lovelady made his second appearance of the season but started poorly by allowing a hit to Ryan O’Hearn, which brought the free runner home and gave the Pirates a 3-2 lead. Following a double play and a few more runners on base, Lovelady then surrendered a base hit to Henry Davis, extending the Pirates’ lead to two runs. In this second back-to-back outing, Lovelady struggled, giving up two runs on 26 pitches and issuing two walks, and would take the loss after getting the win the night before. An interesting decision by manager Carlos Mendoza to say the least.

Jose Urquidy came in to close the game for the Pirates. After walking Francisco Lindor, he allowed a run-scoring double to Juan Soto, which drove in the free runner. However, the second runner was thrown out at the plate in an extremely questionable send by third base coach Tim Leiper. Jorge Polanco came within feet of a walk-off homer, but the ball was caught right before the fence.

Player of The Game: Francisco Lindor

After a slow start in the first two games, Francisco Lindor had a breakout performance, going 2-for-4 with a walk and a run scored. He hit a triple and was driven in by Juan Soto to tie the game in the fifth inning. This marked Lindor’s first multi-hit game and is a promising sign of progress as he continues to recover and play following his hamate bone procedure.

On Deck

The Mets are back in action Monday as they hit the road to face the Cardinals in St. Louis. Clay Holmes will make his first start of the season after a solid performance during spring training with the Mets. Meanwhile, Kyle Leahy will make his debut as a starter for the Cardinals. The game is scheduled to begin at 7:45 pm local time and will be broadcast on SNY and Mets Radio 880.

The post Mets Drop Finale Against Pirates In Another Extra-Innings Affair appeared first on Metsmerized Online.

The New York Mets go for the sweep this afternoon in Queens.

On Thursday, the Mets took the first game of the season in pesky fashion, working nine walks, scoring 11 runs and making the Pirates toss over 190 pitches.

Saturday, neither team could buy a hit with runners in scoring position, but the Pirates were able to take the lead against the Mets twice in extra innings. The Mets tied the game after the 10th, squandering a bases loaded with no outs situation, but then came back in the 11th to win with thunder on a Luis Robert Jr. walk-off home run.

Gregory Fisher-Imagn Images

Mets Lineup

1. Francisco Lindor – SS
2. Juan Soto – LF
3. Bo Bichette – 3B
4. Jorge Polanco – DH
5. Luis Robert Jr. – CF
6. Brett Baty – 1B
7. Marcus Semien – 2B
8. Carson Benge – RF
9. Luis Torrens – C

Starting Pitcher: Nolan McLean

Nolan McLean tried to save the Mets’ season in 2025. He made eight starts across the final two months of the year getting five wins. He pitched 48 innings with a 2.06 ERA, 2.97 FIP, 1.042 WHIP, and a 196 ERA+.

McLean spent a good chunk of spring training with Team USA in the World Baseball Classic, starting the championship game allowing two runs over 4 2/3 innings from four hits and a walk while striking out four.

After an unusual March, his next step is to get back into a routine for the long, regular season. The only player on the Pirates who has seen McLean in a major league game is Marcell Ozuna (0-for-3, K).

Pirates Lineup

1. Oneil Cruz – CF
2. Brandon Lowe – 2B
3. Bryan Reynolds – DH
4. Ryan O’Hearn – RF
5. Jared Triolo – SS
6. Spencer Horowitz – 1B
7. Nick Gonzales – 3B
8. Henry Davis – C
9. Jake Magnum – LF

Starting Pitcher: Carmen Mlodzinski

The Pirates’ rotation is full of homegrown players, and the Mets will face another this afternoon in Carson Mlodzinski. Last season, Mlodzinski split time between the bullpen and the rotation, totaling 34 games (12 starts) pitching 99 innings with a 3.55 ERA, 3.33 FIP, 1.303 WHIP and a 121 ERA+

He was way more effective as a reliever, posting a 2.15 ERA once being moved to the bullpen than his 4.99 ERA as a starter. Mlodzinski made one extended relief appearance against the Mets last season holding the Mets two hits and no runs over 3 2/3 innings while striking out two.

The Mets have the following career stats against him:

• Francisco Alvarez 1-1, 2B
• Brett Baty 0-2, K
• Bo Bichette 0-1, BB
• Francisco Lindor 0-1
• Jorge Polanco 0-1
• Luis Robert Jr. 0-2, 2 BB
• Marcus Semien 0-0, BB
• Juan Soto 0-2, K
• Tyrone Taylor 1-2, 2B
• Luis Torrens 1-1
• Mark Vientos 0-3, K

Game Notes

The Syracuse Mets (Triple-A) dropped their game on Saturday, as they’ve know split their first two games of the season. Jonah Tong got the win in the opener.

Three Things To Watch For

1. Pirates heavy bullpen use. Mlodzinski started last season as a starter and would normally go somewhere between 65 and 75 pitches with a season high of 99. The rest of season as a bulk reliever, the highest he would go was the 40s. He did get stretched out in spring training, last pitching in an official game on March 14 totaling 64 pitches over five innings against the Baltimore Orioles. The Pirates are going need him to go deep in this afternoon’s game. Justin Lawrence, Dennis Santana and Gregory Soto have all pitched in consecutive games. The three pitchers who had the last two days off, Mason Montgomery, Yohan Ramirez and Isaac Mattson, all pitched at least 36 pitches on Thursday.
2. Sean Manaea? We know the Mets plan on Manaea into a game at some point during the first turn through the rotation. Saturday’s extra-inning game means the Mets have used every reliever in their bullpen through the first two games of the season, with every except Tobias Myers, who did long relief on Thursday, pitching in Saturday’s game. If Manaea gets into Sunday’s game his velocity will be the story. His velocity has has been 3-to-4 mph below his career numbers, topping out around 89 mph all spring.
3. Brett Baty at first. Sunday lineups can get funky, but the Mets are keeping things the same this afternoon except with Luis Torrens getting the start at catcher. There is a defensive switch though with Brett Baty getting the start at first base and Polanco starting aa the designated hitter. Baty got a bit of time at first base this spring and it looks like the Mets feel that he is ready to go on day three of the season.

The post Game Chat: Pirates vs Mets, 1:40 P.M. appeared first on Metsmerized Online.

Robert Jr. hit the Mets’ first walk-off of the 2026 season, a towering three-run home run over the 370-feet sign in center field sending the Mets to a 4-2 win over the Pittsburgh Pirates in 11-innings.

The walk-off homer on Saturday added to an impressive showing on Opening Day Thursday. In that game, Robert Jr., not exactly known for his plate discipline, posted a walk in a highly competitive 10-pitch at-bat against ace Paul Skenes. That walk kick-started the Mets offense into a huge first inning against the Pirates’ phenom. Manager Carlos Mendoza later said, “that whole inning was about that Luis Robert at-bat.”

In all, he went on to go 2-for-4 with the aforementioned walk, two RBIs, and a run scored on Thursday.

Fast forward to Saturday, Robert Jr. was 1-for-4, but his lone hit came in the one at-bat that mattered the most, hitting the walk-off home run to send the Mets to victory in extra innings. He also walked once, reaching twice on Saturday, another display of his patience at the plate.

“I’m really excited!” He exclaimed. “Being here on a new team, a new environment, it feels good to be able to get the win today,” said Robert Jr. He discussed what everyone has been noticing in his patience at the plate and that’s exactly what he said newcomer Jeff Albert and the Mets’ hitting staff has been working on with him, being selective. “We’re working on a lot, we’re working on being more selective at the plate,” said Robert Jr.

In his postgame availability Robert Jr. went on to call the walk-off special. “It’s real special. I don’t think I’ve hit a walk-off home run since 2020, so to be able to do it here in these last two games was special,” he stated.

Robert Jr. and the Mets will go for the sweep over the Pirates Sunday afternoon.

The post Luis Robert Jr. At The Forefront Of The Mets’ First Two Victories appeared first on Metsmerized Online.

The Mets kicked off the 2026 season with a huge home win on Opening Day, defeating the Pittsburgh Pirates 11-7. Carson Benge had a dream MLB debut and the entire offense was firing on all cylinders making for a fun home opener at Citi Field.

The Mets will have a customary day off on Friday before returning to Citi Field on Saturday for the second game of the series. It will be right-handed pitcher Mitch Keller on the mound for the Pirates against left-handed pitcher David Peterson for the Mets as he makes his first start of 2026.

Brad Penner-Imagn Images

Latest Mets News

The Mets made history on Thursday. As noted by Sarah Langs of MLB.com, with the Mets starting Bo Bichette at third base for the first time in his career and Jorge Polanco at first base for just the second time in his career, the Mets became the second team in the last 100 years to start two non-rookie infielders on Opening Day with one or no prior MLB games at that position. They join the 1948 Brooklyn Dodgers, who started Jackie Robinson at second base and Billy Cox at third base.

Per Ryan Morik of Fox News, New York Mets legend Keith Hernandez says he still gets paid “close to $5,000” per year in “Seinfeld” residuals.

Mike Janela shared one of the newest Citi Field features: The Mets now display the title and artist for every Mets batter’s walk-up song.

According to Jon Heyman of the New York Post, Mike Tauchman had surgery on Thursday morning to repair his torn meniscus in his left knee. The surgery went as expected and he will be out another six weeks before being cleared to return to play.

Per Sarah Langs of MLB.com, Carson Benge became the 14th player with a home run and a stolen base in his MLB debut since the modern stole base rule was adopted back in 1898. He is the second Met: Lenny Dykstra on May 3, 1985 and the first MLB player to do so since Weston Wilson on August 9, 2023.

ESPN noted that along with Benge hitting a home run in his MLB debut, Munetaka Murakami of the Chicago White Sox and JJ Wetherholt of the St. Louis Cardinals both hit a home run in their first career MLB games as well. This marked the first season in MLB history that three players, each in his MLB debut, homered on Opening Day.

Mathew Brownstein of Metsmerized mentioned the three youngest players to record at least one walk, one home run and one stolen base on Opening Day. Those included Barry Bonds, who was 24 years, 254 days old (1989); Bryce Harper, who was 23 years, 171 days (2016); and now Carson Benge: 23 years, 65 days (2026).

Jorge Castillo of ESPN reported that the Mets and outfielder Tommy Pham are in agreement on a minor league deal.

Latest MLB News

The Milwaukee Brewers on Thursday announced that they placed outfielder Jackson Chourio on the 10-day injured list with a left hand fracture, retroactive to Wednesday. In return they recalled outfielder Blake Perkins from Triple-A Nashville.

Per Jesse Rogers of ESPN, according to sources, the Chicago Cubs are in agreement with second baseman Nico Hoerner on a six-year deal, pending a physical.

Per MLB, 15-year MLB veteran Carl Crawford shared a moment with his son, Justin, after his Major League Debut.

Latest on MMO

Christian De Block previewed the first series of the Mets/ 2026 season and their home opener against the new-look Pittsburgh Pirates.

Michelle Ioannou and the Metsmerized staff discussed their 2026 Mets hot takes in an MMO roundtable piece.

The Metsmerized podcast released its 2026 season preview.

Michael Simon recapped the New York Mets’ 2026 home opener, including Carson Benge’s home run and the Mets’ offense crushing Paul Skenes.

Alexis Farinacci recapped Carson Benge’s dream MLB debut.

On This Date in Mets History

1987: The Mets traded backup catcher Ed Hearn to the Kansas City Royals along with pitcher Rick Anderson in exchange for pitcher David Cone.

Born on This Date: Clay Holmes (1993), Brandon Nimmo (1993), Johnny Monell (1986), Michael Cuddyer (1979), Bill Sudakis (1946).

The post Morning Briefing: Mets’ Bats Get Off to Rip-Roaring Start appeared first on Metsmerized Online.

Position: SP B/T: L/L
Age: 34 (06/05/1991)
2025 Traditional Stats: 19 G, 18 GS, 98 IP, 4-8, 4.59 ERA, 1.25 WHIP, 73 SO, 33 BB
2025 Advanced Stats: 93 ERA+, 17.7% SO%, 8.0% BB%, 4.93 xERA, 5.11 FIP, 4.50 xFIP, 0.4 fWAR, 0.7 bWAR

Rundown

Andrew Heaney has been in the league for 11 years and has played for six different organizations, but with his name circling in trade rumors, he could be looking at a new home by the July 31 deadline.

As you can see with the stats above, the 34-year-old southpaw has been rocky this year on a Pittsburgh Pirates team that’s found themselves at the bottom of the NL Central. His ability to get on the mound and provide solid innings when called upon as a back-of-the-rotation arm is still valuable, however, making him a name to watch over the next two weeks.

His pitch mix and underlying metrics are simply not great, as he has a -11 Pitching Run Value according to Baseball Savant. Pair that with his 4.59 ERA, and it all checks out. He doesn’t “wow” batters with his velocity, as he averages 90.0 mph on his fastball, but he does keep hitters guessing with a five-pitch mix that relies heavily on his four-seamer, changeup and slider. Heaney produced solid chase and whiff results in the past, but he’s generated middling rates of 28.5 percent and 20.4 percent, respectively, in those categories this season, which has led to some overall regression.

Heaney’s Stuff+ on the year sits at 94, which is just below league average and proves that he still has something left in the tank.

He is making $5.25 million this season as a pure rental, so he could fit the mold as a solid depth acquisition for down the stretch while also giving a team like the Mets financial flexibility to make another couple of moves.

Package

Even with pitching in demand, it’s hard to see a world in which the Pirates get an out-of-this-world package for Heaney because of performance concerns.

Proposed Deal

Mets Receive

LHP Andrew Heaney

Pirates Receive

C Ronald Hernandez (No. 25 prospect per MLB Pipeline)

LHP Franklin Gomez (unranked)

Recommendation

From the Mets’ prospective, with Griffin Canning on the shelf for the rest of the year and simply just to fill out innings down the stretch, bringing in Heaney as a veteran who can go every fifth or sixth turn in the rotation and potentially become a long man out of the bullpen for the playoffs could be worthwhile. The Pirates also recoup assets in this deal for a player that will likely walk this winter, making this a sensible move for both sides.

The post Trade Profile: Andrew Heaney, SP appeared first on Metsmerized Online.

With the loss, the Mets drop to 1.5 games behind the Philadelphia Phillies in the National League East and have only three wins over their last 16 games.

Pitching has been an extreme trouble spot for the Mets over this losing skid, and Sunday proved no different. Frankie Montas looked like the pitcher that struggled mightily in his rehab stints, allowing five first-innings runs, all of which came with two outs. His day ended after four innings, as he allowed seven hits, six runs, two homers, to go along with one walk and five strikeouts.

Behind Montas, Richard Lovelady, who returned to the Mets after a short absence, allowed two runs. Dedniel Núñez also struggled, after such a superb outing his last time out, allowing a two-run homer to Oneil Cruz in the seventh inning.

The Mets utilized a position player in the eighth inning, turning to Travis Jankowski. Jankowski allowed two runs, getting out of the frame via a double play. This seemingly punctuating a woeful finale Sunday afternoon.

Offensively, playing behind from a 5-0 deficit early, the offense mustered seven hits, with the lone run being a Luis Torrens home run. Torrens, along with Jeff McNeil, had multi-hit games. Notably, Mark Vientos, who returned from injury this series, went 0-for-4, striking out twice and grounding into a double play. He is 1-for-13 since returning, and seen his season OPS drop to .645.

The New York offense left six more on base, bringing the series total to 24.

Player of the Game: Luis Torrens

The underlying metrics for Luis Torrens have been strong for most of the season, but he had not been getting any results, as he entered Sunday’s game hitting .213. His luck finally turned as he went 2-for-3 with his second home run of the season.

On Deck

The Mets have a much-needed day off on Monday. Then, they welcome in the red-hot Milwaukee Brewers to Citi Field for a three-game set. The projected pitching matchup for the first game of the series, which is set for a 7:10 pm ET first pitch on SNY, is Freddy Peralta versus Clay Holmes.

The post Mets Blown Out For Third Straight Day, Swept By Pirates appeared first on Metsmerized Online.

The 2024 New York Mets went on quite the run after a closed door team meeting. Will history repeat itself?

After Saturday’s loss the Mets held a players-only meeting, for whatever that is worth. The team has spin spiraling of late, losing 12 of their last 15 games. Saturday’s loss featured two things that have become common during the losing streak: leaving tons of runners on base, and one big inning from the opposing team that puts the game out of reach.

Mets Lineup

1. Francisco Lindor – SS
2. Brandon Nimmo – LF
3. Juan Soto – RF
4. Pete Alonso – 1B
5. Jeff McNeil – CF
6. Mark Vientos – DH
7. Brett Baty – 3B
8. Luis Torrens – C
9. Ronny Mauricio – 2B

The Mets’ rotation has been remade over the last couple of weeks and they need Frankie Montas to build off of his successful Mets debut last week. In his first start against the Braves, Montas tossed five scoreless innings allowing three hits and three walks while striking out five.

The Pirates have the following, limited, numbers against Montas:

• Adam Frazier 3-8, 2B
• Isiah Kiner-Falefa 4-13, BB, 2 K
• Andrew McCutchen 0-1, BB
• Tommy Pham 2-9, HR, 4 K

Brad Penner-Imagn Images

Pirates Lineup

1. Adam Frazier – 2B
2. Andrew McCutchen – DH
3. Bryan Reynolds – RF
4. Spencer Horowitz – 1B
5. Ke’Bryan Hayes – 3B
6. Oneil Cruz – CF
7. Tommy Pham – LF
8. Jared Triolo – SS
9. Henry Davis – C

The Mets’ bats will get a look at Mike Burrows this afternoon. Over seven games, six starts (30 1/3 innings), Burrows has a 4.45 ERA, 4.76 FIP, 1.319 WHIP, and a 96 ERA+. Burrows had a rough two starts to the season in late May, allowing nine runs over 8 1/3 innings. He’s been a lot more effective in May, allowing seven runs over 22 innings while striking out 25 batters (2.86 ERA, 3.40 FIP).

The only hitter on the Mets who has seen Burrows in a game is Juan Soto (0-for-1, BB).

Game Notes

Prior to Sunday’s game, the Mets announced they signed LHP Richard Lovelady to a major-league contract and designated LHP Colin Poche for assignment.

Prior to Sunday’s game, the Mets organization released RHP Grant Hartwig. He had been playing with Triple-A Syracuse.

Saturday, Brooks Raley continued his rehab, for High-A Brooklyn, posting another scoreless outing.

Saturday, prospect A.J. Ewing stole his 50th overall base of the season, which has been split between Single-A and High-A.

Three Things To Watch For

1. How long can Burrows pitch? Burrows longest outing this season was 5 1/3 innings, which he has done twice this year. The most pitches he has tossed in a game is 88 and has only pitched above 80 pitches twice over seven games. He’s also off schedule. Burrows made a start on June 20 and then had come in as long relief for Paul Skenes on June 25. He ended up pitching 2 1/3 innings of shutout ball, tossing 31 pitches. The Pirates ended up knocking Burrows back a day to get more rest.
2. Frankie Montas pitch selection. Let’s take a look at Montas’ pitch selection from his first outing of the season. Montas used his four seamer 33.8% of the time, which was nearly identical to the 33% of the time he used it in 2024. Montas used his sinker 28.8% of the time in his debut, which was about 50% more than the 19.3% of the time he used it in 2024. The Braves also got two of their three hits against his sinker. As Montas gets more innings, let’s see if the Mets keep asking him to use his sinker more than last year.
3. Hitting with RISP. The Mets were doing well hitting with runners in scoring position in the two games they won against the Braves earlier in the week. It’s been a disaster in Pittsburgh though. Over the last two games, the Mets have gone 2-for-17 leaving 18 runners on base.

The post Game Chat: Mets vs. Pirates, 1:35 P.M. appeared first on Metsmerized Online.

Through two games against Pittsburgh, the Mets have allowed 18 runs, nine in each game. On Friday, David Peterson, who has skirted by overperforming underlying metrics, posted his second-straight stinker. Then, on Saturday, Paul Blackburn, who has struggled all season long, saw his season ERA balloon to 7.71. Albeit as a result of a curious decision by manager Carlos Mendoza to leave him in after a lengthy rain delay.

Entering the series, the Pirates were averaging a league-worst 3.3 runs per game. However, they have come alive against a Mets pitching staff that, in 11 of their last 15 games, has allowed at least five runs. In nine of those games, New York has allowed at least seven runs. A staff that has lead the majors in ERA for most of the season, has been struggling mightily.

Another interesting aspect of this recent stretch, is a lot of damage the opposition is doing is coming in bunches. On Saturday, the Pirates struck for six in the eighth inning. On Friday, Pittsburgh struck for four in a big second inning. Seemingly, when it starts to go south for the Mets’ pitchers, it goes south fast.

With all that being said, the regression of the staff is not exactly surprising given what the team has endured recently. New York has lost starters Kodai Senga, Griffin Canning, and Tylor Megill, while Sean Manaea has yet to make his season debut and Frankie Montas just recently returned. Additionally, their bullpen has seen the departures, due to injury, of Danny Young, A.J. Minter and Max Kranick. These availability woes are exemplified with the statistic that the Mets used their 32nd different pitcher of the season on Saturday, which is second most in the majors, trailing only the Los Angeles Dodgers (34).

On the bright side, New York should expect some reinforcements at some point. Sean Manaea is continuing to rehab, Kodai Senga’s injury was not as severe as once thought, and Brooks Raley is slowly working his way back, also rehabbing. Not to mention, Dedniel Núñez looked like his 2024-self his last outing.

It was not realistic to ask the Mets’ pitching staff to pitch as well as they had all season. Especially given the injuries. Regardless, it certainly has been a tough stretch for the unit, and health is imperative for them to get back on track.

The post Mets’ Pitching Continues To Struggle Mightily appeared first on Metsmerized Online.

Tuesday night’s loss to the Red Sox in Boston marked the Mets’ first three-game losing streak of the season and pushed them a game and a half back of the Phillies for the division lead. After only scoring 10 runs in their last seven games, New York put half that run total up in Wednesday night’s win against Boston. Brett Baty drove in three runs from the nine hole and Tylor Megill struck out 10 in 4 2/3 innings in a Mets 5-1 win. Click here for the full-game recap!

After salvaging the series finale against the Red Sox, the Mets will head back home to Queens to prepare for a weekend series against the Los Angeles Dodgers, starting Friday. The probable pitching matchups are Clayton Kershaw vs. Griffin Canning, Tony Gonsolin vs. David Peterson and Landon Knack vs. Kodai Senga. 

Eric Canha-Imagn Images

Latest Mets News

Mets legend Mike Piazza mentioned Juan Soto‘s messy start being a Mets “rite of passage” in an interview with Joel Sherman of the NY Post.

Mets RHP prospect Jonah Tong has cracked MLB Pipeline‘s top 100 prospects list. 

Paul Blackburn and Ronny Mauricio led the Syracuse Mets to victory on Wednesday. Click here for more on the win!

Jett Williams and Jonah Tong find themselves in the top 50 prospects list according to Kiley McDaniel of ESPN.

Latest MLB News

Despite some media speculation of a possible trade of Paul Skenes, Jon Heyman of the NY Post reports that those rumors are invalid. A source from the Pirates said in response to a Skenes trade, “No chance, no way, no how.”

Pirates RHP Jared Jones underwent surgery to repair the injury in his right elbow, with no specification on what the surgery is, per Noah Hiles of Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. 

MLB announced that Players’ Weekend is returning August 15-17, which came back in 2024 after a four-year hiatus.

NBC has made an offer to MLB to take over Sunday Night Baseball and the rest of ESPN’s baseball inventory starting next season, per Joe Flint and Jared Diamond of The Wall Street Journal.

Veteran infielder and former Mets foe with the Phillies, Jean Segura, called it a career after 12 big league seasons, per Robert Murray of FanSided.

Giants manager Bob Melvin told reporters that veteran pitcher Justin Verlander will be placed on the IL with pec discomfort.

Latest on MMO

Blackburn and Mauricio star in a Syracuse win.

ESPN’s top 50 prospects list features two Mets.

Brett Baty helps get the Mets back in the win column.

On This Date in Mets History

2019: Juan Lagares hits a three-run double and Rajai Davis hits a three-run bomb en route to a six-run eighth inning in a Mets win. Davis took an Uber from Lehigh Valley to Queens that day after being promoted to the major league club. 

1998: The Mets acquire Mike Piazza from the Florida Marlins in exchange for outfielder Preston Wilson and minor league pitchers Ed Yarnall an Geoff Goetz.

1972: Willie Mays appears on the cover of Sports Illustrated.

Born on This Date: Collin Cowgill (1986).

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The Mets struggled to get anything going on Wednesday as the Pirates shut them out 4-0 to avoid being swept.

Brad Penner-Imagn Images

With one on in the top of the second, the Pirates struck first on a two-run home run by Holmes’ former teammate Isiah Kiner-Falefa that gave Pittsburgh the early 2-0 lead.

The Pirates extended that lead in the fifth on a second two-run home run given up by Holmes, this time to Jared Triolo that scored Ji Hwan Bae to make it 4-0 Pittsburgh.

The Mets went to their bullpen in the seventh inning. It was Genesis Cabrera who came in to relieve Holmes on the mound. Holmes wasn’t as sharp as he had been in his previous outings. He gave up four earned runs on seven hits, walked one and struck out two in six innings. He threw 90 pitches (60 for strikes).

The Mets moved players around in the eighth. After coming in to pinch-hit in the bottom of the seventh, both Jeff McNeil (pinch-hit for Jose Azocar) and Brett Baty (pinch-hit for Tyrone Taylor) remained in the game. McNeil went to right field and Baty went to second base. With Baty going to second, Luisangel Acuña moved to center field for his first major league appearance in at that position.

Offensively, the Mets struggled to get anything going. Mark Vientos, Pete Alonso, Brandon Nimmo, Starling Marte, Luis Torrens, and Jeff McNeil each had hits, but the Mets were 0-for-4 with runners in scoring position and left a total of eight runners on base. They were shut out for the second time this season.

STAT OF THE GAME

Wednesday’s stat of the game is Acuña making his first appearance in center field. Acuna did see time in the outfield in the minor leagues and the Mets had said they may experiment with him in the outfield.

PLAYER OF THE GAME

Wednesday’s player of the game is Cabrera, who came in and threw two scoreless innings of relief. He gave up just two hits, one walk, and struck out four over the course of 35 pitches (22 for strikes). His ERA improves to 1.80.

ON DECK

After an off-day on Thursday, the Mets will take a train ride down the subway to Yankee Stadium for the highly-anticipated Subway Series, which features the return of Soto to the Bronx.

The projected pitchers for this weekend’s Subway Series are as follows:

• Game 1: Tylor Megill (3-3, 3.10 ERA) vs Carlos Rodon (4-3, 3.29 ERA)
• Game 2: Griffin Canning (5-1, 2.36 ERA) vs Clark Schmidt (1-1, 4.73 ERA)
• Game 3: David Peterson (2-2, 3.05 ERA) vs Max Fried (6-0, 1.11 ERA)

Juan Soto vs Aaron Judge. It all begins Friday night with the first pitch scheduled for 7:05 p.m. at Yankee Stadium.

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