Johan Oviedo Walks The Park in Pirates’ 10-0 Loss as Mets Sweep Twinbill

PITTSBURGH – The Pittsburgh Pirates were overwhelmed in seemingly every way Wednesday night when they lost to the Mets 10-0 at PNC Park as New York completed a doubleheader sweep.

The Pirates also lost the first game 5-1 in the afternoon portion of the day-night twinbill. They have dropped six of their last seven games to fall further into the National League Central cellar as they try to avoid another last-place finish.

Two-time Cy Young Award winner Jacob deGrom (5-1) was too much for the Pirates in the nightcap. He held them to three singles over seven shutout innings and had eight strikeouts.

The Pirates were shut out for the 15^th time this season and have eight double-digit losses.

The first two Pirates batters, Oneil Cruz and Bryan Reynolds, hit singles to lead off the first. DeGrom then retired the next 12 batters.

By the time the Pirates got their third hit – another single by Reynolds in the sixth inning – they were trailing 7-0.

Johan Oviedo (2-2) made his second start since being recalled from Triple-A Indianapolis last week and struggled mightily. He walked five of the 11 batters he faced in his 1.2-inning outing.

Oviedo allowed only one hit, but the Mets scored four runs, all in the second inning, thanks to his wildness. It took Oviedo 57 pitches to get five outs.

The National League East-leading Mets (87-51) broke a scoreless tie when Brandon Nimmo walked with the bases loaded. Eduardo Escobar then scored on a wild pitch before Francisco Lindor greeted reliever Eric Stout with a two-run double to make it 4-0.

Against Zach Thompson in the fourth, the Mets extended the lead to 7-0. Lindor doubled in a run and Jeff McNeil followed with a two-run single.

The Mets tacked on two more runs in the seventh against Tyler Beede. Mark Canha and Tyler Naquin led off with back-to-back doubles and Escobar hit a run-scoring single.

The Mets increased their lead to double digits at 10-0 in the eighth inning when former Pirate Daniel Vogelbach hit an RBI single off Yohan Ramirez.

The Mets finished with 17 hits, including four by Escobar and three by McNeil. Adam Ottavino and Alex Claudio pitched one inning each to complete the four-hit shutout.

The Pirates are off Thursday before opening a series Friday against the NL Central-leading St. Louis Cardinals at PNC Park with rookie Roansy Contreras (4-4, 3.41) facing Miles Mikolas (11-10, 3.32). First pitch is scheduled for 6:35 p.m.