Pirates fall 13-4 to Mets in series opener

It’s hard to win a baseball game when you surrender 10 runs in an inning.

That’s what the Pirates accomplished in the sixth inning of Friday night’s 13-4 loss to the Mets, the first of a four-game set in Queens.

Going into that horrendous sixth inning, the game was knotted up at 2-2. The Pirates scored a run off a bases loaded hit by pitch in the second inning and Adam Frazier hit an RBI single in the fifth. Meanwhile, the Mets welcomed themselves on the board with two runs in the third, thanks to a Jonathan Villar home run and a Brandon Nimmo RBI double.

During the sixth, Pirates starter JT Brubaker gave up a single to Nimmo and walked Francisco Lindor, moving Nimmo into scoring position. A Dominic Smith single broke the tie and scored Nimmo before Pete Alonso put the game out of reach with a three-run homer to end Brubaker’s night.

Sam Howard was the first man out of the bullpen and struggled to throw strikes, allowing three walks and an HBP, which brought in two runs and ended his night after just getting one out.

Then, Kyle Keller came in to clean up the mess, but proceeded to give up a grand slam to Lindor, which put the game out of orbit.

For a team that had been so strong pitching earlier in the week, Wednesday and Friday’s outings have been incredibly dissapointing.

If there’s anything good to take away from this game, it should be what came in the seventh inning. Rodolfo Castro recorded his first MLB hit and he went yard off Nick Tropeano. It’s worth a watch.

Castro came in to pinch hit for Keller and stayed in the game at second base, taking Frazier out of the game. If Frazier’s tenure in Pittsburgh has little time left, we should be seeing a lot more of Castro, which hopefully means more of that.

The Pirates play a doubleheader Saturday against the Mets. First pitch is set for 4:10 p.m. EST.