It seems like a decade since the Mets were 0-5.
The team couldn’t buy a win, losing in every way imaginable, even prompting broadcaster Gary Cohen to say the term “rock bottom” in April.
Now, the team is alive and well. The Mets are 7-3 since their dreadful start, taking series from the Reds, Braves, and Royals, and on Monday night won their eighth win in eleven tries.
A counterpunch sixth and knockout double in the eighth sparked what was a dramatic win against the Pirates Monday night.
The sixth-inning rally came after starter Adrian Houser allowed two runs in the top of the inning, and Drew Smith allowed a third.
The Mets loaded the bases in the bottom half with three singles from Starling Marte, Francisco Lindor, and Brett Baty, bringing Francisco Alvarez to the plate as the go-ahead run with one out.
Alvarez had a veteran at-bat, drawing a walk against Pérez to cut the Pirates lead to 3-1. Then, with the bases still loaded, Jeff McNeil came to the plate and drove Lindor home due to an error by Connor Joe in right field.
McNeil flew out to Joe in shallow right field, but the Pirates outfielder tripped while throwing the ball into the outfield, which brought Lindor home to cut the lead to 3-2.
Mandatory Credit: John Jones-USA TODAY Sports
That prompted Pirates manager Derek Shelton to pull Pérez and bring in Chris Stratton. Carlos Mendoza countered with his own move, pinch-hitting DJ Stewart for Tyrone Taylor.
The move paid dividends for the Mets, as Stewart ripped a double to the right field wall, driving home Baty to tie the game at 3-3.
The emphatic sixth inning gave the Mets life after going down 3-0 in the top half. Strong performances from Adam Ottavino and Brooks Raley kept the score at 3-3 till the bottom of the eighth, where the Mets delivered the knockout.
Facing Aroldis Chapman, McNeil found himself in the middle of another rally with one out. He struck out, but the ball got past Henry Davis, allowing the lefty bat to advance to first base.
Stewart followed with a hard-fought walk, putting runners on second and first for Harrison Bader. However, before the outfielder got the chance to play hero, McNeil and Stewart pulled off a successful double steal, notching the first steal of the year for both players.
Now, with runners on second and third, Bader had the chance to play hero. The Mets outfielder doubled off his former teammate, driving in two runs to give the Mets a 5-3 lead.
Bader drives in 2! The Mets take a 5-3 lead!! pic.twitter.com/88Zjb8lIem
— Metsmerized Online (@Metsmerized) April 16, 2024
The knock erupted the crowd and was the deciding blow in Monday’s victory. Bader came around the score on a fielder’s choice, giving the Mets a 6-3 lead, the ultimate final score.
Edwin Díaz came in for the ninth and pitched a scoreless ninth. He picked up his fourth save of the season and has looked stellar since returning from his knee injury in 2023. The save tonight notched his 100th save a Met.
Adrian Houser started the game for the Mets on Monday and pitched around trouble to keep the Mets in the game.
Houser’s first test came in the top of the second. After striking out Rowdy Tellez to begin the inning, he allowed back-to-back walks to Andrew McCutchen and Jack Suwinski to clog the base paths.
The righty, however, didn’t break. Houser struck out Connor Joe for the second out and got Jared Triolo to ground out to Francisco Lindor on a 91.4-mile-per-hour sinker.
The Houdini act from Houser in the second was an impressive feat. Escaping jams quickly became a theme for Houser in his start against the Pirates.
The former Brewer got into a second and first jam again in the third. With Oneil Cruz on second via a walk and Bryan Reynolds a single, he escaped another jam by inducing a lineout from Ke’Bryan Hayes and a flyout from Tellez.
However, Houser eventually faltered, and the Pirates broke the ice in the top half of the sixth. Hayes drew a leadoff walk against Houser and then advanced to second on a groundout from Tellez.
McCutchen then came up to the plate and knocked home Hayes with a 102 mph groundball to right field to give the Pirates a 1-0 lead. That single also knocked Houser out of the game after 5 1/3 innings. The righty finished his night with five strikeouts and walks, an improvement from his last start, but was still responsible for McCutchen on first.
Mendoza called upon Drew Smith to finish the sixth, who before his outing on Monday, hadn’t allowed a run this season.
Smith, unfortunately, couldn’t keep his scoreless streak. After walking his first batter, Suwinski, Connor Joe struck a fastball into center field to drive home McCutchen to give the Pirates a 2-0 lead.
Houser was charged with the run, but Triolo ended Smith’s scoreless streak with a sacrifice fly that scored Suwinski, who advanced to third on the Joe single. Smith eventually finished the inning, donning a 1.23 ERA.
Pérez matched Hosuer for most of the night, but also couldn’t get past the sixth inning. The lefty pitched 5 2/3 innings, allowing three runs on six hits. He only struck out one.
The Mets once again handed a loss to a team on a hot streak. The Pirates were 11-5 before tonight’s loss and came off a 9-2 victory against former Met Zack Wheeler.
The Mets win tonight got them back to .500 on the season. The last time the Mets had an even record was last season on June 4.
Harrison Bader was the player of the game for the Mets. The outfielder went 1-for-3 with a double and drove home the two go-ahead runs in the eighth inning.
First pitch for Game 2 against the Pirates is set for 7:10 p.m. José Quintana (1-1, 3.45 ERA) takes the mound for the Mets, while the Pirates haven’t announced a starter for Tuesday. The game will be televised on SNY and broadcast on WCBS 880.
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