Mets beat Pirates to snap 7-game losing streak behind gem from Kodai Senga, Mark Canha’s 3 RBI
PITTSBURGH — The Mets badly needed a solid pitching performance and timely hitting. They needed to put all aspects of their game together at the same time.
They mostly did that, snapping a seven-game winning streak with a 5-1 win over the Pittsburgh Pirates at PNC Park on Saturday afternoon.
Kodai Senga had a solid road start and gave the Mets seven innings of one-run ball, while Mark Canha played the hero by driving in three runs. He hit a go-ahead two-run double in the seventh inning off Dauri Moreta, and drove in Tommy Pham with another double in the ninth, this one off left-hander Angel Perdomo. Francisco Alvarez hit his 12th home run of the season off former Mets reliever Colin Holderman in the eighth.
“It’s definitely nice to put it to bed,” Canha said. “We still have a lot of work to do and that’s important to remember, but we’re happy we got this one today.”
After failing to protect a 4-1 lead twice this week on the road against the Atlanta Braves, the Mets finally got the pitching they needed to make it stand up and an insurance run to help the bullpen. David Robertson and Adam Ottavino closed the Pirates out with scoreless eighth and ninth innings.
Getting to the Pittsburgh (33-30) bullpen proved key. The Mets (31-34) struggled against Pirates right-hander Johan Oviedo (3-5). A leadoff double by Pham (2-for-4, two runs scored) in the third and an RBI single by Brandon Nimmo helped the Mets go up 1-0, but for the second night in a row, the defense fell apart.
The game was tied after errors by shortstop Luis Guillorme and another by second baseman Jeff McNeil in the fourth inning. It cost Senga a run and the game was tied at 1-1 until Canha’s two-run double in the seventh gave the Mets a 3-1 lead.
“Errors happen and people make mistakes, but I gave up more walks than there were errors in the game,” Senga said through a translator. “After a play like that, I go back on the mound and I’m already moved on to the next guy.”
The Mets made three errors, with Canha making one in the sixth inning at first base, where he was playing in place of the injured Pete Alonso. It showed that they aren’t out of the woods yet when it comes to this stretch of poor play, but it was a good sign he was able to make up for it at the plate.
“The internal dialogue there wasn’t pretty,” Canha said. “I was really upset with myself and just kind of super frustrated. But every at-bat, every inning, every situation is an opportunity to kind of redeem yourself and pick the team up, or whatever that may be. An opportunity presented itself and I told myself, ‘Here we go. You get another chance.’”
But for all the defensive shortcomings over the last few days and throughout the losing streak, Nimmo probably saved a few runs. The center fielder made a fantastic leaping catch at the center field wall on a fly ball by Connor Joe in the third inning and he laid out to grab another by Joe to end the fifth, this one to the left-center gap.
Nimmo’s nab on that ball at the wall got Senga out of a bases-loaded jam. The jam was self-inflicted, as he walked the bases loaded with two outs.
“Not just one catch, but two catches today,” Senga said. “Every time I pitch, it seems like he makes amazing catches for me. I have a lot of trust in the outfield there. Sometimes I get hit, and I’m like, ‘Oh no,’ but some part of my brain is thinking, ‘I think maybe he’s going to catch it.’”
Outside of that inning, Senga (6-3) spun a gem. He allowed only one unearned run on two hits, walked four and struck out six to earn just his third road win (3-2 away from Citi Field).
“He was kind of on a mission today, I thought,” said manager Buck Showalter.
It might be cliche to say the Mets need to take things one game at a time, but with the way things have been going, they really can’t afford to look ahead at anything other than Sunday and try to repeat the performance, though maybe with some cleaner defense.
“Trying to build on it now is the challenge,” Showalter said. “It’s not always necessarily dictated by the value of your starting pitcher. I want us to get where something breaks down and you pick it up in another area. I hope it doesn’t [break down], but how many games do you have when everything is clicking? It’s hard to do.”
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