A day after Harrison Bader dribbled home a leadoff hit in the bottom of the eighth inning against the Royals, he again went ahead against Pittsburgh on Monday, this time with a double to put the Mets ahead, who were back to .500. The season ended with a 6-3 come-from-behind victory at Citi Field.
They erased a three-run deficit in the sixth inning, but Bader made it back two innings later with a rocket off Aroldis Chapman.
The winning rally began with Jeff McNeil reaching for a wild pitch to strike out Chapman.
In the 6th inning, DJ Stewart, who had tied the game with a pinch-hit double, walked and both runners stole base from Chapman, setting up Bader’s big hit and contributing to the Mets’ fourth victory in five games. .
This happened at a time when the Mets had improved their 0-5 start with three consecutive wins in the series and are now back to 8-8, while the Pirates were surprisingly sluggish with 11-7.
On Monday, Adrian Houser and Pittsburgh left-hander Martin Perez were locked in a pitching battle, going scoreless through five games.
Pittsburgh broke through in the sixth inning when right-hander Hauser was burned out with one of five walks.
After Ke’Bryan Hayes led off with a walk, Rowdy Telles’ grounder to first base advanced him to second base, and Andrew McCutchen scored his first run of the game with a single over the right infield, stopping Hauser’s lineup.
Drew Smith came on and walked Jack Swinski, then Connor Joe hit a rocket single to center field to make it 2-0.
Jared Toriolo’s sacrifice fly put the Mets up 3-0.
But the Mets quickly answered.
Starling Marte and Francisco Lindor hit strong singles from the bottom of the inning, bringing in high-profile Pete Alonso, but the first baseman popped out.
Brett Batty singled and Francisco Alvarez walked to load the bases and lead off the Mets’ first run.
McNeil then hit a fly to right field that was too shallow to score Lindor from third base, but Joe made an unexpected wild pitch to first base and Lindor returned home on an error, bringing the Mets within one run.
Stewart hit a game-tying double off right-hander Hunter Stratton as a pinch hitter for Tyrone Taylor.
Bader was hit by a pitch again, with the bases loaded, but Brandon Nimmo grounded out to tie the game and end the inning.
The Mets fought back again in the eighth inning after Brooks Lally and Adam Ottavino held a scoreless inning out of the bullpen.
Bader followed with a two-run double and a triple on Nimmo’s fielder’s choice, giving the Mets a 6-3 lead.
