Mandatory Credit: Kam Nedd-USA TODAY Sports

If there was an award for signing of the offseason, then New York Mets pitcher Taijuan Walker would have it wrapped up already.

Signed to add some depth to the rotation after the Mets missed out on ace Trevor Bauer, Walker has been an absolute home run of an addition and he carved out yet another stellar outing in a New York uniform at Camden Yards on Wednesday evening.

On a night where the bats exploded by putting 14 runs on the board, with former Mets pitcher Matt Harvey being shelled early and often, Walker ensured that the pitching was in tune with the offense after simply dominating through seven innings.

The starter allowed just one run in this outing, walking just one and striking out nine while throwing 93 pitches to ensure that the Mets bounced back from an ugly 10-3 loss in Baltimore the previous evening.

Walker lowered his ERA to 2.07 as a result of this gem, and the two-year, $20 million deal he signed back in the offseason is looking more and more of a bargain with each passing day, and Mets manager Luis Rojas revealed his admiration for his starter in the wake of the game.

“He’s been a lot better than I expected,” Rojas said. “He’s done so much for us.”

The Mets came out aggressive against their former stud in Harvey, piling on seven runs in the first three innings with the highlight being a three-run blast by Kevin Pillar, who also went 3-for-4 with two home runs.

Billy McKinney also hit two homers, Pete Alonso was 3-for-5 and Mason Williams knocked in his first home run as a Met, with the six homers scored a season-high as Harvey was taken out of his misery after the third inning.

While it was another tough night for The Dark Knight, who now has an ugly ERA of 14.19 over his last six outings, it was plain sailing for Walker who would have had a perfect night was it not for a three-strike call that went against him in the first inning, leading to a Ryan Mountcastle RBI.

However, Walker shrugged off that minor setback and proceeded to sit down 18 of his final 21 batters, setting a personal season-high with nine strikeouts in the process, before allowing Jeurys Familia and Seth Lugo to come in and close it out.

It was vintage Walker who more than played his part in the New York Mets finishing this road trip with a 5-4 record and improving to 30-24, and the front office can continue to be pleased that their offseason gamble is paying off handsomely so far.