PITTSBURGH — Pitcher Christian Scott had thrown 77 pitches with two outs in the top of the sixth inning Monday when the manager went to the mound and called for the ball.
Hell was about to begin for the Mets.
After manager Carlos Mendoza made the odd decision to replace the starting pitcher, the mayhem included a walk, three singles (two of which weren’t particularly hard hit), a double, an error, a wild pitch and a home run. Eric Ause caught fire in his major league debut, and Adrian Hauser followed up with a ferocious offense against the Pirates at PNC Park, leading to an 8-2 loss to the Pirates.
The Mets have had two straight games, two of which ended in frustrating ties in four straight games. The other was last week at Washington, and the Mets (44-45) have missed two winnable games after winning the first two.
The Mets head home with a sense of urgency to regain momentum ahead of a six-game series against the Nationals and Rockies before the All-Star break. They have not won a series since beating the Yankees two weeks ago at Citi Field, trailing 5-6.
Scott, making his second start since returning from Triple-A Syracuse, struck out three, allowed one hit, walked one and allowed two earned runs over 5 2/3 innings. But after getting Andrew McCutchen out with two outs in the sixth inning, Scott was replaced and the Pirates rallied back with Oze and Hauser.
O’Neill Cruz hit a two-run homer in the fourth inning to put the Mets down 2-0. Scott walked McCutchen to lead off the inning, then Cruz got on a split ball and hit a 431-foot fly ball to left-center field.
In the third inning, Mitch Keller allowed a single to Jeff McNeil and hit Francisco Lindor to put two runners on base, but the right-hander then retired seven straight batters before leading off the sixth inning with a single by Harrison Bader.
Brandon Nimmo hit a two-run home run in the sixth inning to tie the game at 2–2. Following a single by Bader (a ball that fell between Bryan Reynolds and Jack Swinski), Nimmo swung at a 3–0 pitch and homered to right-center field. The home run was Nimmo’s 14th of the season. The day before, he learned he had not been selected to the National League All-Star team. Nimmo and Lindor remain the leading candidates for replacement spots on the roster.
Orze walked Reynolds, then Cruz singled, and then Orze got Rowdy Tellez to hit a slow grounder to shortstop, but the big first baseman got past Mark Vientos’ throw for an infield single to give the Pirates a 3-2 lead.
Hauser was called upon to get Nick Gonzalez to hit a grounder between Pete Alonso and first base, then advanced to third on an error by McNeil in right field for a two-run double. Gonzalez scored on a wild pitch, and Joshua Palacios’ subsequent home run put the Mets up 7–2.
Ke’Bryan Hayes singled leadoff in the eighth against Hauser and scored on an RBI fielder’s choice by Palacios.
