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PITTSBURGH – Edwin Diaz pierced the first hitter he faced with the first pitch he threw on Saturday night – and soon the Mets’ worst nightmare was unfolding.
The two-point lead Diaz had received was unsure, just as a big advantage a set earlier had become tenuous in the hands of Seth Lugo.
It ended with Kevin Pillar rushing into the left-field stands desperately trying to retrieve the descending flying ball from Jacob Stallings, but to no avail. Stallings’ grand slam sent the Mets to a stunning 9-7 loss to the Pirates at PNC Park.
“I couldn’t believe him when he walked through the fence,” said Diaz, who pointed skyward as the ball left the stick. “I thought it was a flying balloon.”
The Mets, who led 6-0 in the eighth inning largely on a pair of two-run homers from JD Davis, lost their third straight game to fall to 2-4 against the Pirates in last place.
Wilmer Difo’s three-run homerun against Lugo spearheaded the Pirates’ comeback in a five-run eighth. But Diaz, who is pitching for the first time since his stoppage against the Pirates last Sunday at Citi Field, had a two-point cushion as he took the mound in ninth after Brandon Nimmo’s solo homerun early in the inning.
“It’s hard, when you don’t have your day, to win the game,” Diaz said. “Two of the [last] three losses were with me and I just have to stay positive. … Tomorrow is another day.”
Ke’Bryan Hayes was hit with a pitch to start the winning rally and Bryan Reynolds walked. After securing a strikeout, Diaz gave up a single to John Nogowski on the glove of Jonathan Villar who loaded the bases. Gregory Polanco struck out at bat, putting Diaz one point away before Stallings put an end to it.
“[Diaz’s] The cursor was not the right cursor tonight, it was moving backwards and the fastball control was scattered, ”said manager Luis Rojas.
The loss came hours after the Mets put Francisco Lindor on the 10-day injured list with a strained right oblique. Rojas noted that Lindor is among the players who have a calming effect on Diaz during difficult times and that this presence may have been missed.
“Francisco is a guy who gives him a lot of confidence,” Rojas said. “Francisco makes a few visits to the mound and pumps it up and they have a really good relationship.”
Rojas defended his decision to stay with Lugo in the eighth to face Difo after the Pirates have already scored twice against the reliever. He said Lugo “ended up” in the inning and his pitch count was 20. Rojas said he enjoyed the game and noted that Lugo had been used in some of the Mets’ most powerful places in recent years. weeks.
Lugo, who scored two goals and allowed three hits, never escaped the inning, as Aaron Loup came in to get out the final.
“We have a lot of baseball left and a single loss doesn’t define the team,” Lugo said.
Davis had a two-run homerun in the fourth and another in the sixth, providing rookie Tylor Megill with support in his most impressive performance since joining the Mets. The right-hander shot six clean innings in which he allowed six hits and two strikeouts, dropping his ERA to 2.63.
Travis Blankenhorn, recalled from Triple-A Syracuse before the game to replace Lindor, produced a run with a double hit in the seventh. Jeff McNeil contributed an RBI single up the sleeve.
JD Davis’ first blast of the night came after three futile rounds in which base running and double plays were a problem. In the first, Nimmo retired late at the first goal on the volley through McNeil’s cross and was passed to end the set. Dominic Smith made a double play in the second and Pete Alonso hit one in the third.
McNeil walked to open the fourth and Davis smashed Wil Crowe’s next pitch over the center field fence for the Mets’ first homer in 20 innings. The Mets had two in the first inning of the last game before the all-star break, but then went silent for the rest of that game and scored their only point on a Ground Out Friday.
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