PITTSBURGH — Marcus Stroman went from struggling to rolling to fading in the course of a night’s work Saturday, departing his Mets debut with his team at least still in the game.
One good rally was eventually needed to exonerate Stroman, and Wilson Ramos delivered it with a go-ahead homer in the eighth inning (before he drove in three additional runs in the ninth), sending the Mets to a 7-5 win over the Pirates at PNC Park. The victory was the Mets’ eighth in nine games, ensuring a winning road trip.
Stroman, the Long Island native who arrived in a trade last weekend that sent pitching prospects Anthony Kay and Simeon Woods Richardson to Toronto, joined Jacob deGrom and Noah Syndergaard among Mets starting pitchers with an All-Star pedigree. But this night was largely a slog for Stroman – perhaps the combination of first-game jitters with a new team and a long layoff between starts.
In all, Stroman lasted 4 1/3 innings and surrendered three earned runs on seven hits and two walks in his first appearance since July 24. It was a second straight shaky performance by a Mets starting pitcher – Steven Matz was knocked out in the fourth inning a night earlier.
Ramos came to the rescue with a two-run blast in the eighth against Kyle Crick that put the Mets (54-56) ahead. In the ninth, Ramos delivered a three-run double that provided a cushion for Edwin Diaz, who surrendered a two-run homer to Starling Marte in the ninth.
Jeff McNeil’s first career pinch-hit homer, a solo blast in the seventh, had trimmed the Pirates’ lead to 3-2. McNeil, who began the night on the bench with a day off, smashed the first pitch he saw from Michael Feliz for his 12th homer this season.
Seth Lugo, who on Saturday was named National League Reliever of the Month – after going 12 appearances in July without allowing an earned run – pitched a scoreless eighth before Diaz survived the ninth.
Robinson Cano doubled to start the go-ahead rally in the eighth before Ramos cleared the right-field fence for his 11th homer this season. Ramos finished the game 4-for-5 with a career-high six RBIs.
Stroman was removed with two runners on base in the fifth, at 92 pitches, and watched as Luis Avilan walked Jose Osuna before plunking Kevin Newman to force in a run, giving the Pirates a 3-1 lead.
Stroman encountered trouble in a first inning in which he faced eight batters and threw 35 pitches. The Pirates began with four straight singles against Stroman to take a 1-0 lead before the right-hander finally recorded an out. But Jose Osuna’s walk with the bases loaded gave the Pirates another run.
Before the inning could completely unravel, Stroman sprang from the mound to barehand Newman’s squib and fire to the plate for the second out. Jacob Stallings was then retired, finishing a 40-minute first inning.
Stroman allowed two singles in the second, but escaped the inning, during which he began a streak of eight straight batters retired that lasted into the fifth.
Chris Archer had unloaded 33 pitches in facing seven batters in the top of the inning, allowing one run. Wilson Ramos delivered an RBI single, after the Mets had loaded the bases with one out. But Archer struck out J.D. Davis and retired Todd Frazier to keep the Pirates’ deficit at 1-0.
Archer pitched six innings and allowed one earned run on five hits with six strikeouts and two walks. In his start against the Mets last Sunday, he allowed six runs over five innings.
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