Gut Reaction: Mets 8, Pirates 3 (8/16/23)

DJ Stewart hit two home runs to power the Mets to an 8-3 win over the Pirates Wednesday afternoon at Citi Field. The victory gave the Mets the series win.

This may seem like a laugher but it was good defense that kept the Mets in the game early. Pete Alonso made two diving stops, with the first one definitely saving at least one run in the first inning. Then in the fifth, Jonathan Arauz made a terrific play ranging far to his right to field the ball and then making a great throw to get the out. That play loomed large as the next two batters waked and hit a double. On the double, Stewart made an accurate throw to the cutoff man and Jeff McNeil followed with a terrific relay throw to nail the runner at the plate. Without those two throws by Arauz and McNeil, the Pirates score at least two runs and probably more in the inning.

The beneficiary of the highlight-reel defensive plays was Tylor Megill. He picked up his first win in two months with his five-inning performance. But while he went deeper in the game than either Carlos Carrasco or David Peterson did in the first two games of the series, it was hardly a good outing.

Meanwhile, Stewart built nicely off his two-hit game Tuesday. His home run in the bottom of the second gave the Mets a 1-0 lead and his two-run homer in the bottom of the fifth after the big defensive inning made it a 6-2 game. The second homer was off a lefty, his first hit this year against a southpaw.

The bullpen gave four scoreless innings, including using Adam Ottavino in the ninth inning with a five-run lead. It was silly to use Ottavino in this game. At the same time, did any of us really want to see Sam Coonrod?