The last-place Pirates essentially used two innings to get ahead comfortably against the Mets on Friday night.
Mets starter David Peterson followed up last Sunday’s poor outing against the Philadelphia Phillies by allowing five earned runs — four of which were scored in the second inning.
Then with the Mets trailing 5-1 in the sixth inning, outfielder Bryan Reynolds hit a 402-foot three-run home run off Blade Tidwell to blow the game wide open. The runs scored in those frames contributed to a 9-1 Mets loss at PNC Park.
Peterson, who also allowed five earned runs in his previous start in Philadelphia, allowed RBI singles to Jared Triolo and Isiah Kiner-Falefa, and an RBI double to Alexander Canario in the second frame. Former met Tommy Pham also grounded into a fielder’s choice to score Canario to make the score 4-0.
Peterson allowed just two hits the rest of the way, but one of them was a Ke’Bryan Hayes RBI double in the fifth that sent the starting pitcher to the showers. Peterson finished seven hits, three walks and five strikeouts in 4.2 innings of work.
He was replaced by Tidwell, who allowed five hits, four runs and three walks in 3.1 innings of work. Friday’s outing was Tidwell’s third major league appearance of his career.
The offensive barrage outshined Juan Soto’s 20th home run of the season off Pirates starter Mitch Keller. Unlike Peterson, the Pirates starter kept his team in good position after a decent outing: five hits, one earned run, one walk and four strikeouts in 5.1 innings of work.
Pittsburgh relievers Isaac Mattson, Genesis Cabrera and Chase Shugart held the Mets scoreless the rest of the way.
After dropping the first matchup of a three-game set, the Mets look to bounce back with Paul Blackburn on the mound on Saturday. The Pirates are scheduled to start left-hander Bailey Falter.
