Pirates Use Big Seventh Inning to Take Down Mets 7-4

Recap

The Pittsburgh Pirates’ offense was struck in neutral against the New York Mets at Citi Field on Tuesday night. That is until the seventh inning, anyways.

Thanks to a couple of gifts from the Mets and big hits from Jason Delay and Bryan Reynolds, the Pirates struck six times in the inning and went on to beat New York 7-4.

With the bases loaded and one away, the Mets turned to Grant Hartwig to try and wiggle out of it. Hartwig proceeded to walk pinch-hitter Jack Suwinski on four pitches before plunking Jared Triolo to put the Pirates ahead 3-1.

After Liover Peguero scored on a passed by charged to catcher Francisco Álvarez, Delay drove in a pair with a double into the right-center gap. Reynolds followed by driving in Delay with a triple on a sinking line drive that got behind Mets’ center fielder Tim Locastro.

The Pirates tied the game at 1-all in the second inning on Peguero’s fifth home run of the season.

Bailey Falter turned in his best performance since being acquired by the Pirates. The left-hander held the Mets to just one run on four hits in 5.1 innings. He walked one and struck out five batters.

The Mets homered twice against Colin Selby in the seventh inning but the Pirates held on for the win with David Bednar picking up his 25th save of the season.

Key Moment 

Delay’s double was only the Pirates’ second hit with runners in scoring position in 10 attempts at the time and turned out to give the Pirates some needed breathing room.

Star of the Game

Peguero finished the game 2 for 4 with a home run, an RBI, two runs and a walk.

Stat to Know

Ke’Bryan Hayes drew two walks and also had a pair singles in the game. Entering play, he had only drawn two free passes in his last 40 games.

Noteworthy

• Selby (1-0) was credited with his first major league win after entering the game in relief of Falter.
• Andrew McCutchen was on base three times with two walks and a hit by pitch and has now reached safely in 18 straight games dating back to July 22.
• Connor Joe was on base four times with a pair of singles and two walks.
• Pirates’ batters drew 10 walks against the Mets, matching a season-high. Mets’ pitchers also hit two batters.
• Despite scoring seven runs, the Pirates also left 13 runners on base in this one and have left 23 runners on in the first two games of this series.
• Josh Palacios was removed from this evening’s game due to a gastrointestinal illness. He is currently being treated and evaluated by the medical staff. The Pirates will provide an update when new information becomes available. Status is day to day.
• The Pirates optioned right-hander Quinn Priester to Triple-A Indianapolis and recalled relief pitcher Yohan Ramirez.

Up Next

The Pirates (54-66) and Mets (54-66) will conclude their three-game series on Wednesday afternoon. Johan Oviedo (6-12, 4.42 ERA) will pitch for Pittsburgh and will be opposite right-hander Tylor Megill (6-6, 5.64 ERA). First pitch: 1:10 ET.