New York built its lead early and spent the rest of the night trying to protect it. The Mets scored in three of their first four innings, and that was enough to outlast a Pittsburgh team that chipped away in the seventh and ninth but never got the deficit to a single run in time.

The Game Network — Where History Is Kept
 123456789RHE
NYM1041000006100
PIT0000002024120

Zach Thornton was the story for five innings, working around traffic to keep the Pirates scoreless. He allowed 4 hits and 2 walks over 5.0 innings, striking out 3 without giving up a run, and picked up the win to move to 3-2 with a 2.52 ERA. The Mets bullpen was less tidy behind him, with four relievers combining for 4.0 innings and allowing 4 runs, all earned, as Pittsburgh made things interesting late.

The Mets' third inning did the heaviest lifting. Benge singled to right to score Lindor, then Marcus Semien homered to left center to bring home Benge and Young, turning a one-run edge into a 5-0 lead. Semien finished 1-for-4 with the home run and 3 RBI. New York had already gone up in the first when Benge's single to center brought home Ewing, and added another run in the fourth as Lindor singled to center to score Ewing again, making it 6-0.

Pittsburgh's response came too late to matter in the standings but gave the crowd something to watch. Carmen Mlodzinski struggled in the start, allowing 5 runs on 7 hits over 3.0 innings and taking the loss to fall to 6-4, before Yohan Ramirez steadied things with 3.1 scoreless innings, 1 hit allowed and 4 strikeouts. In the seventh, Triolo's single scored Gonzalez, and Mangum's sacrifice fly to right brought home Simon to cut it to 6-2. The Pirates pushed again in the ninth, with Gonzalez's single scoring Simon and then Lowe's single to center bringing in Mangum, but the rally stalled at 6-4.

The Mets improved to 51-66 and extended their winning streak to four games. The Pirates fell to 57-61, losers of four straight.

Full Box Score →