Mandatory Credit: Wendell Cruz-USA TODAY Sports

Taijuan Walker was looking to start strong with his first outing of the second half after his appearance in the 2021 MLB All-Star game. However, his outing was far from what he would’ve hoped. He lasted just 1/3 of an inning on Sunday, not making it out of a controversial first-inning debacle between the Mets and Pirates.

Walker got Adam Frazier to ground out to open the matinee between New York and Pittsburgh, followed by giving up a double to Wilmer Difo to left field to get the Pirates’ offense started. Bryan Reynolds followed Difo with an RBI single to secure a 1-0 lead. Walker proceeded to walk Ben Gamel to put runners on first and second with one out.

John Nogowski then continued to haunt New York, as he clubbed a two-run double that scored Reynolds and Gamel. Nogowski advanced to third on a fielding error by Tomas Nido. With the Pirates up 3-0 in the top of the first with one out, Walker’s outing was already starting on the wrong foot. It got worse by walking Gregory Polanco (who then stole second) and Michael Perez to put two more runners on.

The next play led to chaos on the field, an error by Walker, and an ejection of Mets manager Luis Rojas. Kevin Newman hit a dribbler down the third base line that appeared to be foul. Walker, thinking it was a foul ball, tossed the ball out of play to the dugout. Walker immediately looked to the umpire on the play with confidence the ball was out of play, but play proceeded with the umpire deeming the ball to be fair. This play ended up being the final runs the Mets would surrender Sunday afternoon, but they were three big runs as Nogowski, Polanco, and Perez all scored and Newman advanced to second on the error.

Here’s a look at the play:

“I thought I had flipped it into the dugout… Obviously I was frustrated about it and I was frustrated with myself not getting the job done,” stated Walker on the play in the first. Rojas came in to argue the play as well and was later ejected after giving his argument.

“That got the whole team fired up, to see him have our backs out there,” Walker said on Rojas backing the players up.

Once play continued, the right-hander walked JT Brubaker, who ended up being the last batter he faced. The Mets went to their bullpen with just one out in the first and called on Drew Smith for some long relief. Thankfully, everyone was up to the task by registering 8 2/3 shutout innings as New York eventually came all the way back to salvage the finale. The biggest contributors from a workload standpoint were Smith (2 2/3 innings), Aaron Loup, and Jeurys Familia (two innings each).

Walker’s start on Sunday is one he will learn from but will probably want to forget. His final line read: 1/3 IP, 4 H, 6 R, 5 ER, 4 BB, 0 SO, 0 HR. It could’ve been worse, though — the Mets could’ve gotten swept by the Pirates, but Michael Conforto and the rest of the offense prevented that from happening.