Oviedo’s Short Outing Dooms Pirates in 8-3 Loss to Mets

Recap

Johan Oviedo was only able to give the Pittsburgh Pirates four-plus innings in their 8-3 loss to the New York Mets on Wednesday afternoon at Citi Field.

The Mets (55-66) struck for three runs in the second inning off of Oviedo, beginning with a D.J. Stewart solo home run with one out. Francisco Lindor later singled home a pair to put the Mets ahead 3-0.

Brandon Nimmo singled home the Mets’ fourth run of the game in the fourth inning. After Oviedo started the fifth inning by walking Pete Alonso, he was lifted in favor of Ryan Borucki.

Oviedo (6-13) allowed four runs in 4.0+ innings on five hits and five walks. He struck out three.

After he was lifted, Stewart connected on his second home run of the game off of Borucki. His second homer of the game was a two-run shot which put the Mets up 6-2.

The Pirates (54-67) found the scoreboard in the third inning when Bryan Reynolds hit a two-run homer to left-center, his 18th of the season. Reynolds was playing in his 600th career game.

Key Moment 

Down 4-2 in the fourth, Jack Suwinski doubled to right with Andrew McCutchen on first base. Mccutchen was waved home by third base coach Mike Rabelo, but the Mets executed a perfect relay to throw out McCutchen and end the inning.

Star of the Game

Stewart hit two more home runs in the game for the Mets giving him three in this series against the Pirates.

Stat to Know

In this three-game series against the Mets, the Pirates drew 21 walks. It’s the second time this season they’ve drawn 20+ free passes in a three-game slate (June 5-7 vs. A’s) .

Noteworthy

• Entering play Reynolds was third in the National League in home runs since July 23 with eight. His ninth home run in that span is one behind Alonso (who hit a solo homer in the seventh) for second-most. Matt Olson leads the way with 11.
• Ke’Bryan Hayes continued to swing a hot bat. He finished the afternoon 2 for 5 with a double and a run scored. He has at least one hit in eight of his last nine and multiple hits in six of those games.
• McCutchen went 0 for 3, extending his hitless streak to 13 at-bats. He did, however, draw a walk and has now reached base safely in 19 consecutive games. That’s the third-longest active on-base streak in the National League.

Up Next

The Pirates have an off day on Thursday before starting a weekend Series with the Minnesota Twins at Target Field. The Pirates have yet to announce their starter, and it’ll be Pablo López (8-6, 3.66 ERA) on the mound for Minnesota. First pitch: 8:10 ET.