Mandatory Credit: Vincent Carchietta-USA TODAY Sports

Taijuan Walker took the mound on Friday night for his final start before the All-Star break. Walker’s first half season in New York has been nothing short of terrific. The right-hander, who went unsigned until late February, entered Friday night with a 2.44 ERA and 87 strikeouts in 85 innings and a 7-3 record. Although he was left off the All-Star Game roster that was announced last Sunday, Walker had a chance to make one final push to be added to the All-Star Game roster as a replacement with his Friday start against the Pittsburgh Pirates at Citi Field.

Walker made quick work of the Pirates in the first inning. Facing both Pirates All-Stars Adam Frazier and Brian Reynolds, Walker retired the side all on groundouts with Ke’Bryan Hayes grounding out in between the two All-Stars. It took Walker just ten pitches to get through the first inning.

In the second inning, Walker ran into some self-inflicted trouble. After a walk to Ben Gamel, John Nogowski lined a hanging slider down the right field line to put runners on second and third with nobody out. Walker got ahead of Kevin Newman in the count 0-2 before losing him to a walk to load the bases.

Michael Perez, who came into the night hitting just .135, also fell behind 0-2, but Walker again lost the strike zone and hit Perez with a 2-2 fastball. Walker was able to escape without any further damage by striking out Jared Oliva and inducing a double play ball from his pitching counterpart JT Brubaker to hold the Pirates to just the one run.

Facing the Pirates’ three most dangerous hitters again in the third, Walker again made quick work of them. Frazier led off the inning with a ground out to third baseman Jonathan Villar. After Hayes struck out swinging on a fastball up and in, Reynolds hit a one-hop ground out to Jeff McNeil in the shift to give Walker his second 1-2-3 inning of the night.

After the Mets’ bats gave Walker a lead to work with in the bottom of the third inning, he allowed a leadoff infield single to Gamel on a ball McNeil had no play on. Nogowski followed with a pop up on the infield before Gamel was caught stealing to empty the bases. Newman flew out to center field to retire the side in the fourth.

Perez flew out to center field before Oliva doubled down the right field line to put a runner in scoring position with one out. Facing Brubaker, Walker once again got ahead in the count 0-2 before losing the strike zone and allowing a walk and allowing Oliva to steal third during the at-bat. Frazier followed with his league-leading 110th hit, a single to drive in Oliva, to tie the game 2-2. Fortunately for Walker, he was able to limit the damage after a Hayes 103 m.p.h. line drive went directly at Michael Conforto in right field and Reynolds grounded out to end the inning.

Walker finished the night with five innings pitched, allowing just two runs on four hits and three walks while striking out two.

Even though his command was noticeably not there, Walker was able to limit the damage and work his way out of tight spots. He was able to keep the Pirates from driving balls and induced plenty of ground balls as he has all season, none more important than the double-play ball from Brubaker to strand the bases loaded in the second inning. While not being at his best, Walker was able to give the pitching-short Mets five solid innings and gave the team a chance to win.

Following the game, Luis Rojas had a big announcement that changed the tone of Walker’s night.

In his ninth season, the former first-round pick of the Seattle Mariners will be going to his first All-Star Game representing the only team that offered him a contract in the offseason.

“Once I got to the big leagues, it was always a goal to be an All-Star,” Walker said. “To finally be an All-Star is really cool.”

Walker’s Friday outing may not have been the usual kind of outing we have come to expect to see from him, but as he has all season, he gave the Mets a chance to win. Despite his lack of control throughout the night, he was able to prevent the Pirates from having the big inning that would take the Mets out of the game. Even though Walker was clearly not at his best, he gave the Mets a solid outing, which is why his All-Star selection is so deserving. The next time we see Walker take the mound should be on Tuesday in Denver representing the National League.