Mandatory Credit: Andy Marlin-USA TODAY Sports

The Mets sent Taijuan Walker to the mound in the second of a four-game series at Citi Field against the Chicago Cubs on Tuesday night and he was excellent once again.

Walker started off the first inning a little rocky as he gave up a leadoff single to Joc Pederson, and then hit Kris Bryant with a pitch. Walker quickly put it together as he got back-to-back strikeouts of Javier Báez and Anthony Rizzo. Willson Contreras made things a little dicey though as he got an infield single to load the bases, that is until Ian Happ ended the inning by striking out to get Walker out of potential trouble.

Walker bounced back with a 1-2-3 second inning, picking a few more strikeouts to bring his total to five off of 33 pitches through two innings of work.

After Pederson lined out to begin the third inning, Bryant hit a single which was followed up by a two-run homer off the bat of Báez. It was only the third home run that Walker has allowed this year. After Rizzo grounded out, Contreras hit a towering fly out which was caught by a leaping Dominic Smith to end the inning.

Happ began the fourth inning with a leadoff single, which was followed up by a strikeout from Sergio Alcántara. Alec Mills ended the inning by flying out to center field. Flash forward to the fifth and Báez struck out to end the inning, which solidified yet another 1-2-3 inning for Walker.

“We hit the jackpot with this guy, he’s been outstanding for us,” Luis Rojas said after the game.

Walker struck out two in the sixth, marking the first double-digit strikeout game of his Mets career. It was also the first time since September 1, 2017 that Walker has reached 10 strikeouts in a game.

With more two strikeouts in the seventh, Walker eclipsed his former career-high in strikeouts, which now stands at 12. Walker ended his night having retired the last 12 batters he faced, in what was arguably the best start of his season: 7 IP, 5 hits, 2 ERs, 0 walks, 12 Ks on 92 pitches.

After the game, Walker said, “We’ve all been doing pretty well, I just want to do my part and go out there and try to go deep into games and put up zeros when I can.”

Taijuan Walker continues to be masterful, and with All-Star voting underway, he certainly has a strong case to make the roster.