Jared Jones shows ruthless efficiency but bullpen blows lead as Mets beat Pirates

Jared Jones continues to shove with a ruthless efficiency, recording seven strikeouts without a walk while holding the New York Mets to one hit in five shutout innings.

That the Pittsburgh Pirates practiced caution with his innings limit, pulling the rookie right-hander after 59 pitches, backfired when their bullpen blew a one-run lead.

The Mets rallied for three runs while batting around the order in the seventh inning on their way to a 3-1 win Tuesday night at CitiField, handing the Pirates their fifth loss in the past seven games and clinching their first series loss of the season.

Jones went on the attack from the outset, striking out six of the first 10 batters he faced. With seven or more strikeouts in each of his first four career starts, Jones joined Jose DeLeon (1983), Stephen Strasburg (2010) and Masahiro Tanaka (2014) as the only pitchers to do so. DeLeon, Strasburg and Tanaka all did it through their first five starts.

“We had a meeting before the game that they were a patient team, so exploiting that obviously leads to our success,” Jones said on the SportsNet Pittsburgh postgame show, “and that’s exactly what happened.”

The Pirates also had a plan to keep Jones on a short leash, even though he tossed strikes on 50 of 59 pitches (84.7%). After Jones threw 89, 80 and 85 pitches in his first three starts, Pirates manager Derek Shelton said that it was predetermined Jones would pitch only five innings.

Since detailed pitch data started being tracked in 2000, no other major league pitcher had ever thrown 60 or fewer pitches and 50 for strikes. His repertoire was heavy on four-seam fastballs (32) and sliders (22), averaging 97.7 mph and drawing 15 whiffs and 10 called strikes.

“This kid’s really important to us, as anybody that watched will see,” Shelton said. “It’s one of those things where we knew where he was going to be. He was really good. When you’re really good and you make a decision like that, people are going to wonder what’s going on. He’s healthy. He’s good.”

Aside from a Pete Alonso bloop that dropped under the glove of a sliding Bryan Reynolds in left field for a double in the second inning, Jones pitched five perfect innings.

“Going into it, I knew this may be a challenge if he was as efficient and effective he was,” Shelton said. “And he did it. This kid’s got good stuff. I think that’s why we think he’s so important to us.”

Jones had no complaints about being pulled early, as the 22-year-old noted that “whatever (Shelton) says goes” and that he doesn’t “have enough time in this game to say otherwise.”

Jones also hasn’t issued a base on balls since the final inning of his MLB debut March 30 at Miami, a string of 17⅓ consecutive innings without a walk. That’s the longest streak by a Pirates pitcher in the first four games to begin his career since Gerrit Cole went 18 innings without a walk in 2013.

Jones has 32 strikeouts against two walks in 23 innings over four starts. That’s a 184-inning pace, far exceeding the 126⅓ innings in 26 outings split between Double-A Altoona and Triple-A Indianapolis last year and 122⅔ innings in 26 starts at High-A Greensboro in 2022.

“Do you want to see me down the road or do you want to see me get shut down?” Jones said. “That’s what I think of it. It all makes sense the way he worded it and told me. It’s awesome that they’re looking out for me and my health. It’s a good thing to see.”

With third baseman Ke’Bryan Hayes (lower back tightness) a late scratch, the Pirates shook up their starting lineup. Oneil Cruz, who had a scheduled day off, started at shortstop with Alika Williams moving to second base and Jared Triolo playing third base.

The insertion of Williams at the bottom of the batting order provided a boost. He drew a walk in his first at-bat, then doubled to left off Mets lefty Jose Quintana and scored on a single to right by Bryan Reynolds to give the Pirates a 1-0 lead in the fifth.

The Pirates failed to capitalize on their early chances, as the game got off to an odd start.

Connor Joe drew a full-count leadoff walk and was headed for second base on Reynolds’ line drive to left field. But when Joe saw Brandon Nimmo dive for the ball, which skipped into his glove, he returned to first base. Nimmo threw the ball to second baseman Jeff McNeil at first, robbing Reynolds of a hit.

Instead of having runners on first and second with no outs, the Pirates had a runner on first with one out. Quintana added to their frustration by striking out Triolo and Edward Olivares.

The Pirates failed to capitalize on other scoring chances, as they went 1 for 5 with runners in scoring position. They had runners on first and second with no outs in the third when Joe hit into a 1-4-3 double play and Triolo into a 6-4-3 groundout.

And they had runners on second and third in the seventh inning when Reynolds went down swinging against Reed Garrett, who struck out six of the eight batters he faced in relief.

Luis Ortiz relieved Jones in the sixth and pitched a 1-2-3 inning before encountering trouble in the seventh. Between Jones and Ortiz, Pirates pitchers retired 16 consecutive batters when Francisco Lindor drew a full-count walk with one out to start a Mets rally. Alonso lined a single to left-center to put runners on the corners for Joey Wendle, who doubled to the left field corner to score Lindor to tie the game at 1-1.

“We have to stay away from the walks,” Shelton said, “and they came back to bite us.”

After Ortiz got Francisco Alvarez to fly out to left for the second out, Shelton brought in left-hander Jose Hernandez to face the lefty-hitting McNeil. Hernandez was called for a balk, scoring Alonso for the go-ahead run and advancing Wendle to third.

“The umpires did a good job,” Shelton said. “They called the balk and the reason they got together – everybody probably wonders – was to make sure the hitter was in the box because if he’s not in the box and engaged, then it can’t be a balk. And it was a balk.”

McNeil then doubled down the left field line to drive in Wendle to give the Mets a 3-1 lead. Hernandez intentionally walked Harrison Bader, then walked Omar Narvaez on a full count to load the bases but got Nimmo to line out to right to preven further damage.

Given his efficiency and effectiveness, Shelton said it was “extremely hard” not to send Jones out for the sixth inning, especially given the way the game turned out for the Pirates.

“I understand how that’s frustrating to people,” Shelton said. “Again, this kid is really important to us and we have to make sure that when we put a process in place, a plan in place, that we stick to it.”