Pirates draw 10 walks, use 6-run 7th inning to beat Mets

When New York Mets use five relievers Monday night, Derek Shelton hoped it would be good fortune for the Pittsburgh Pirates over the final two games of their series.

It took seven innings, but the Pirates finally got to the Mets’ bullpen.

The Pirates used a six-run surge in the seventh sparked by Jason Delay’s two-run double and Bryan Reynolds’ RBI triple for a 7-4 win Tuesday night at Citi Field.

“One of the things, when you leave guys on base like that, you work through pitchers,” Pirates manager Derek Shelton said on the AT&T SportsNet postgame show. “We did a good job of that. We missed some opportunities early, but we did a nice job staying patient, especially with the young guys, and were able to capitalize. And we played the whole game, which you have to do sometimes.”

The Pirates drew 10 walks, including six against Mets starter David Peterson, to tie their season high achieved against Oakland on June 5. But they stranded nine runners through the first six innings, including the bases loaded in the third.

When the Pirates loaded the bases again in the seventh, they finally had a breakthrough. After Jose Butto walked Andrew McCutchen, gave up a double to Connor Joe and walked Liover Peguero, the Mets brought in rookie right-hander Grant Hartwig to face pinch hitter Jack Suwinski.

Suwinski drew a four-pitch walk to give the Pirates a 2-1 lead, Hartwig hit Jared Triolo with a pitch to make it 3-1, and Peguero scored on a passed ball by catcher Francisco Alvarez for a 4-1 edge.

The Mets’ infield was playing in when Delay came to bat, and he lined a double to the right-center gap to drive in two for a 6-1 lead, then scored when Reynolds hit a ball that bounced past center fielder Tim Locastro for a triple to stretch the lead to six runs.

“I stepped in the box and was just going to see a pitch. Obviously, he was having trouble with his command,” Delay said. “I’m just trying to get the ball in the air for a sac fly, get the ball in the air and score a run. Fortunately, it found the gap.”

The Mets took a 1-0 lead in the first when Brandon Nimmo drilled Pirates starter Bailey Falter’s 2-2 slider over the middle 392 feet to right field for a leadoff home run, his career-best 17th of the season and second in as many games.

“I’ve just got to make a better pitch. I don’t think that pitch could’ve been any more middle,” Falter said. “Unfortunately, I’ve been there one or two times before. After that happens quite a bit, you’re like, ‘You’ve got to lock it down. You’ve got to give your team at least six.’”

Mixing his fastball up in the strike zone and curveball down, Falter held the Mets to one run on four hits and one walk with five strikeouts through 5⅓ innings.

“Bailey kept us in the game, did a really good job,” Shelton said. “He did a nice job with the breaking ball. Pitched off the fastball, but I think that’s the best curveball we’ve seen him have.”

The Pirates tied the game when Peguero led off the second with a solo home run, crushing Peterson’s 1-2 fastball 412 feet to left field for his fifth in 22 games since being promoted on July 17. The 22-year-old middle infielder was at a loss to explain his sudden power surge.

“I honestly don’t know. All I’m trying to do right now is swing at the pitches that are good for me to hit and let my bat do his thing,” Peguero said. “I can’t even explain the things that are going on, but I’m really glad and happy that the hard work I’m putting in is showing off at the field. I’m just swinging the bat and the balls are going out. That simple.”

Peterson walked Triolo and Ke’Bryan Hayes but got Reynolds looking at a called third strike on a slider just outside the zone to strand both runners and limit the damage.

That became a theme for Peterson, who walked six and hit a batter but got out of jams with strikeouts in each of the first three innings as the Pirates left seven runners on base. They loaded the bases in the third, only for Joshua Palacios and Triolo to go down swinging.

Peterson, however, threw 91 pitches in 3⅔ innings, forcing the Mets to turn to a depleted bullpen that was stressed in Monday’s 7-2 win.

“The biggest thing is, you have to stay mentally in the game, and we did that,” Shelton said, giving hitting coach Andy Haines credit for his work with Pirates hitters. “Just continuing to be positive because you have some innings where you’re frustrated because you don’t score runs. You cannot let it get you down.”

The Pirates got a boost with two outs in the sixth, when rookie right-hander Colin Selby relieved Falter and got Pete Alonso to ground into an inning-ending 5-4-3 double play. Selby (1-0) earned his first major league victory, despite giving up three runs in the seventh.

“He came in in probably the biggest situation against one of the better hitters in the National League and did a good job,” Shelton said, “so I’m really happy for him.”

Everything changed in the seventh, when the Pirates reached on three walks, a hit batter and a pair of extra-base hits in the top of the inning.

The Mets took out their frustrations in the bottom of the seventh on Selby, as pinch-hitter DJ Stewart hit a two-run homer to cut it to 7-3 and Jonathan Arauz went back-to-back by homering in his second consecutive game to make it 7-4. But lefty Angel Perdomo came in to get Nimmo looking at a called third strike to end the inning.

In his first return to CitiField since being acquired from the Mets in July 2022 in a trade for designated hitter Daniel Vogelbach, Colin Holderman got All-Stars Francisco Lindor swinging and Alonso looking in a clean eighth inning. David Bednar pitched the ninth to earn his 25th save.

“This team is always pushing forward,” Peguero said. “There’s been a couple tough times. One thing we’re doing well — and hopefully we’ll keep doing it — is just not give up.”