Mets 5 Pirates 2 (PNC Park, Pittsburgh, PA)
Mets record: 43-44
Mets streak: Won 1
WP - Jose Butto (3-3)
LP - Bailey Falter (4-7)
SV - Edwin Diaz (8)
Seat on the Korner:
We select the star of the game and virtually invite him to a Seat on the Korner, just as Ralph Kiner used to do for his studio postgame show on WOR-channel 9 broadcasts in the early decades of the Mets.
Luis Torrens' three run double highlighted a 3-for-4 day and also highlighted a 5-2 victory which broke the Mets' three game losing streak.
Need to Know
Brandon Nimmo also went 3-for-4 on the day with a run scored. He and Francisco Lindor reached base a combined five times at the top fo the order, and they each scored a run.
Jose Iglesias' double in the 6th extended the Mets lead to 5-2.
Edwin Diaz returned to action after his suspension. He hit O'Neil Cruz to start the frame, but then got a strikeout and a double play to finish off a tidy 10 pitch inning.
David Peterson went 4 and 1/3, giving up 5 hits and two walks along with five strikeouts. He did give up a home run which ended up in the river, but he kept the Mets in the ballgame.
Jose Butto threw 1 and 2/3's scoreless innings in relief of Peterson , only giving up one walk.
Turning Point
Turning points don't usually come from an umpire, but John Tumpane turned the game around when the Pirates were threatening to turn the tide with the bases loaded and two outs against Reed Garrett with the score 5-2. But Tumpane's call on a 3-1 pitch which should have been a bases loaded RBI turning into an ejection and a sigh of relief.
Three Keys
No Stick
Edwin Diaz returned after his 10 game suspension to save a three run lead. It wa the most anticipated sticky stuff check in a while.
It turned out to be a 10 pitch outing which started out a little dicey after he hit O'Neil Cruz on a patricularly wild fastball. But his finish of a strikeout and a double play is exactly what the doctor ordered for a bullpen which has been under siege during the suspension.
Peterson Keeps The Game On The Rails
David Peterson's outing was relatively short t 4 and 1/3, but there was a point in the 2nd where he let the game get out of hand, First his confusion on a pop-up put the leadoff runner on. Then after a flyout, a single and a walk loaded the bases for Cruz with one out.
The one saving grace was Cruz's .145 average vs. lefties this season.
The Mets would score three in the next inning after Peterson's escape and were off to the races.
Do The Mets Have a Slider Problem?
That third inning didn't come without angst. With the bases loaded, Bailey Falter was lifted due to injury and Dennis Santana, who was a Met last season, came in and basically threw sliders all over the place. Pete Alonso swung at two of them en route to his strikeout, and Santana struck out Mark Vientos on one out of the zone as well.
Thankfully Torrens found a slider actually in the zone and broke the game open.
It's worth making note the rest of the season to see if the Mets' taste for sliders out of the zone will poison them before this season ends.
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