Mandatory Credit: Andy Marlin-USA TODAY Sports

Taijuan Walker entered Saturday evening’s start with a 9.86 ERA in five starts since the All-Star Game. It’s been a rough second half for Walker, who was one of baseball’s best pitchers from April to early July.

But in his game against the Dodgers in front of Citi Field’s largest crowd of the 2021 season, Walker put together an outing that reminded fans why he was named an All-Star just last month.

Over 6 2/3 innings, Walker allowed just one run on a long solo home run by Will Smith. He gave up two hits, three walks, but struck out eight batters as well. After what was easily his best start since the mid-summer break, Walker’s ERA now sits at 3.75 for the season.

The first two frames were perfect for Walker, as the Dodgers went six up, six down. Those six outs included strikeouts of Trea Turner, Corey Seager, and Chris Taylor.

Los Angeles did not get a runner on base until the third inning, when former Met Billy McKinney drew a one-out walk.

From the fourth through sixth innings, Walker again faced the minimum. The lone baserunner was pitcher Walker Buehler, who also got on base by way of a walk in the sixth. However, he was soon retired on the base paths after Trea Turner hit into an inning-ending 5-4-3 double play.

In that three inning span, Walker struck out one Dodger batter in each frame.

Heading into the seventh inning, Walker’s no-hitter remainder alive. But soon enough, the Dodgers bats found some life.

With one out in the seventh, catcher Will Smith blasted a deep home run into the second deck of left field, ruining the no-hitter and tying the ballgame in the process. Immediately after, Corey Seager lined a double to left.

After an AJ Pollock strikeout, Seager advanced to third on a wild pitch. Later in that at bat, Chris Taylor walked.

That marked the end of Walker’s night. While walking back to the dugout, he received a roaring standing ovation from the Mets faithful.

Aaron Loup entered the game in relief of Walker, and promptly struck out Cody Bellinger to strand two runners on base and get out of the jam.

Walker heavily relied on his four-seam fastball and splitter in the Mets eventual 2-1 loss. These two pitches accounted for 65 percent of all his 93 total pitches. The splitter, thrown 24 times, led to 15 total swings, seven of which were whiffs.

Of the four pitches that Walker threw at least ten times, each one produced a higher average velocity compared to his annual average. The fastball had the greatest difference, with Walker’s four-seamer averaging 95.4 miles per hour on Saturday night. Over the course of 2021, Walker has thrown that same pitch on average at 94.4 MPH, so Walker had some noticeable increased velocity on his heater compared to his typical start.

“I feel like I’m in a really good place right now,” Walker said.