Aroldis Chapman ejected after giving up 3 runs in 8th inning as Mets rally past Pirates

The Pittsburgh Pirates endured another meltdown in the back end of their bullpen. This one belonged to Aroldis Chapman, who appeared angered that the strike zone was being squeezed.

The seven-time All-Star reliever was ejected by home plate umpire Edwin Moscoso after surrendering a two-run double in a three-run eighth inning, as the New York Mets rallied past the Pirates for a 6-3 win Monday night at CitiField.

“We’ve just got to make better pitches,” Pirates manager Derek Shelton said on the SportsNet Pittsburgh postgame show. “It just kind of got away from us there.”

Where two-time All-Star closer David Bednar was booed April 9 after giving up four runs in the ninth inning of a 5-3 home loss to the Detroit Tigers, Chapman (0-1) took the loss after enduring his second consecutive rough outing. He had a blown save in the seventh inning of Saturday’s 4-3 loss at Philadelphia.

The Pirates took a three-run lead in the sixth inning, only for the Mets to respond by tying the game and going on to win for the 15th time in 18 tries on Jackie Robinson Day.

The Pirates had managed only one hit against Mets starter Adrian Houser through the first five innings but Ke’Bryan Hayes drew the Pirates’ fifth walk to lead off the sixth inning.

“He struggled with his command a little bit early,” Shelton said of Houser. “We did not expand the zone. That was what gave us some extra baserunners.”

When Rowdy Tellez hit a grounder to first base, Pete Alonso stepped on the bag then threw to second base to attempt to turn a double play. His throw skipped and bounced off shortstop Francisco Lindor.

Andrew McCutchen hit a sharp grounder to right field to score Hayes from second base and give the Pirates a 1-0 lead. That was it for Houser, who was replaced by Drew Smith. But Jack Suwinski drew another walk, and Connor Joe singled to center to score McCutchen for a 2-0 lead. With runners on first and third, Jared Triolo hit a sacrifice fly to right field to drive in Suwinski to make it 3-0.

“It was a good inning for us,” Joe said. “Cutch came up big there when we needed him, got us on the board. I was able to get a pitch in the heart of the plate where I could put in on the grass and score Cutch. Then Jared did a great job with a runner on third base with less than two outs of getting the ball in the air. That’s what we preach, executing when there’s a runner on third base with less than two outs, and we were able to score runs.”

Shelton, however, felt the long inning ended up hurting Pirates starter Martin Perez, whose changeup wasn’t sharp as he allowed six hits and two walks.

“I thought he was really good for five innings. He had the (seven)-pitch fifth and the double play ball and did a really good job,” Shelton said. “He looked out of sync when he went back out for the sixth.”

The Mets took avdantage by answering with three runs in the bottom of the sixth. Starling Marte, Lindor and Brett Baty hit singles and Francisco Alvarez drew a bases-loaded walk to cut it to 3-1.

They scored another run on what should have been a routine play when Perez got Jeff McNeil to fly out to shallow right. Instead, Joe looked to double up Alvarez at first. Tellez wasn’t covering the bag, however, and Joe lost his grip on the ball for an error that allowed Lindor to score from third as the Mets trimmed the lead to 3-2.

“I saw the runner at first base getting aggressive, like kind of go as if it’s going to fall,” Joe said. “I thought I could double him up, so I come up to throw at first base. I didn’t see anyone there, so I tried to pull it down and, unfortunately, it got away from me.”

Hunter Stratton relieved Perez, but the Mets tied it when pinch hitter DJ Stewart doubled to right to drive in Baty. Stratton hit Harrison Bader with a pitch to load the bases but got Brandon Nimmo to ground out to short to end the inning.

The Mets took the lead against Chapman, who got Alvarez looking at a called third strike, then got McNeil swinging at a slider but he reached on the wild pitch. Chapman appeared visibly upset as Stewart drew a full-count walk, and the Mets capitalized on his slow delivery for a double steal that put both runners in scoring position. Bader lined a two-run double to left to give the Mets a 5-3 lead, and Chapman was ejected after an exchange with Moscoso.

The Pirates turned to Roansy Contreras, who suddenly had a runner on third after a Bader stolen base. With the infield playing in, Nimmo hit a bouncer to second to Triolo, who made the throw to home plate in time but Bader scored by sliding under catcher Henry Davis’ tag.

“Bader just got a really good read on it,” Shelton said. “He’s a good baserunner and had a good slide. With the way the rules are right now, you have to be in front of the plate. Henry was right there. It was a good play by ‘Tri,’ a good tag. Bader just beat it.”