This one was decided before Pittsburgh could settle in. New York scored in five of the first seven innings, buried Jared Jones early, and cruised to an 11-1 win at PNC Park.
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| NYM | 2 | 0 | 3 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 11 | 15 | 0 |
| PIT | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 1 |
Sean Manaea did the rest. The Mets left-hander struck out 11 over 7.0 innings, allowing just three hits and one run while walking nobody. He improved to 4-5 with the win, and his ERA now sits at 4.13. Manaea needed just 91 pitches to work through seven, and by the time he handed things over the outcome was long since settled.
New York wasted no time. A.J. Ewing scored in the first inning on a Benge single to left, and Francisco Lindor followed him home on a Robert Jr. sacrifice fly. In the third, Luis Robert homered to center, driving in Bichette to make it 4-0, and Marcus Semien later singled home Jared Young to extend it to 5-0. The Pirates answered briefly when Jake Mangum homered to center in the bottom of the third, but the Mets blew the game open in the fourth: Bo Bichette doubled to left, scoring Alvarez, Lindor and Ewing all at once, and Young then singled in Bichette to make it 9-1. Francisco Alvarez added a homer to left-center in the fifth, and Robert Jr. capped the scoring with a seventh-inning single that brought home Bichette for the 11-1 final.
Jared Jones lasted just 3.0 innings for Pittsburgh, allowing 8 runs on 6 hits with 3 walks in the loss, falling to 2-4. The Pirates' bullpen worked 6.0 innings behind him and allowed 3 more runs, unable to slow New York's lineup. Mangum's homer and a single from Benge were about all Pittsburgh could generate against Manaea and the Mets' lone reliever, who covered the final two innings without allowing a run.
Bichette finished 5-for-5 with three RBI and three runs scored, and sits at 496 career RBI and 495 career runs, both within reach of the 500 mark. New York improved to 52-67, snapping a slide with the win, while Pittsburgh fell to 58-62.