Jason Mackey's nine observations: Strong relay, key hits and much more comprise first Pirates' win

NEW YORK — A strong relay and dramatic play at the plate. A few key hits with runners in scoring position when that sort of thing proved elusive all series. A bounce-back performance from the bullpen. Another Brandon Lowe home run.

Those were just a few themes that comprised the Pirates’ 4-3 victory over the Mets in 10 innings on Sunday at Citi Field, salvaging a game in the series before flying to Cincinnati.

While this phrase gets thrown around a lot, it was the definition of a team win, featuring contributions from everywhere.

“[Sunday] was a big step in the right direction,” Ryan O’Hearn said. “Finding ways to win, finishing it off. You can play a great game and end up losing and look at the positives. But there’s something to be said for teams that know how to finish games off and win. We did that today against a good team.”

The decisive action came in the 10th. O’Hearn singled on a ground ball up the middle to push the Pirates ahead. Henry Davis smoked one 105.7 mph to center field to add a key insurance run.

In the bottom half, Oneil Cruz, Jared Triolo and Davis worked together on a play to nail Mets shortstop Francisco Lindor at home, preventing the tying run from scoring.

José Urquidy, making his Pirates debut, then finished it off for the save.

“In the win column,” Pirates manager Don Kelly said. “We’ll take that any time.”

Here are my nine takeaways from the win:

• Impressive play by Davis on the tag. Triolo scooped the throw from Cruz, which was important, but he didn’t have a runner barreling down on him. Davis reached to his left, made the pick and pulled his glove back in time to get Lindor. That’s not easy to do.

“For him to be able to slide over, still maintain that composure and pick a short hop and get the tag down, it was a phenomenal play,” Kelly said.

The play furthers Davis’ growth as a defender. He’s really good back there. It also reminds me of being at Pirate City watching Davis handle throws and tag a bucket or some piece of equipment that catching coach Jordan Comadena was pulling with a strap.

Apparently practice pays off.

• This was nearly a left-on-base disaster. Prior to the 10th, the Pirates had been four for 36 in the series with runners in scoring position, stranding 30. Thankfully, O’Hearn and Davis changed that with two solid swings.

“That’s what you wanna do,” O’Hearn said. “Get hits with runners in scoring position.”

That’s obviously what the Pirates need to do moving forward, hence why they revamped their offense this past offseason. Kelly also isn’t concerned. It’s only been three games.

“Over the course of the season, [4 for 36] won’t be good enough,” Kelly said. “Our guys are working hard at it. … Felt like we had some better at-bats today with runners in scoring position, especially there in the 10th.”

• The strikeout stuff from Carmen Mlodzinski (career-high eight) was evident early, as he opened the game by fanning Lindor, left fielder Juan Soto and third baseman Bo Bichette, all on different pitches.

After giving up a run in the second, he struck out the same three in the third, this time on two four-seamers and a splitter.

Overall, Mlodzinski bested his his previous mark of six punchouts, achieved over five innings in an 8-4 win against the Cardinals on April 7, 2025.

Mlodzinski threw 85 pitches (55 strikes) and recorded the first out of the fifth inning before giving way to Yohan Ramírez.

“I feel like overall I executed well and was able to get some strikeouts when I needed ‘em,” Mlodzinski said.

• Impressive job making in-game adjustments by Mlodzinski and Davis, two of the more cerebral players in the Pirates clubhouse. They noticed the Mets were sitting on splitters. So, they emphasized harder stuff instead.

They also talked postgame about reading swings and tailoring pitch-calling to what they saw. Mature stuff.

• In the first inning, O’Hearn singled to extend his hitting streak to 12 games dating back to last season, the longest active one in the Majors entering Sunday’s games. He had three hits total and is now batting .429 on the year.

• Brandon Lowe keeps hitting, too. He’s averaging a homer per game, which may not be a sustainable pace. Lowe gave the Pirates a 2-1 lead with his solo shot in the third, crushing a 2-2 four-seamer that was elevated for his third of the season.

The Pirates second baseman became the first National League player this season with three home runs. Meanwhile, Lowe joins Shawon Dunston (1997) and Reggie Sanders (2003) as the only players in Pirates history to hit at least three home runs through their first three games with the team.

• For the second time this series, Yohan Ramírez did an excellent job in a tough spot. He entered with one out and one on in the fifth, taking over for Mlodzinski. Ramírez got a tapper and a strikeout to end the inning and struck out two over 1 2/3 innings.

Mason Montgomery’s premium velocity was on full display in the seventh inning during strikeouts of Soto and Bichette.

It’s not often Soto looks as awkward as he did on strike three while trying to hit an elevated four-seamer at 99.5 mph. Bichette then swung through 100.5 at the top of the strike zone from Montgomery, allowing the Pirates’ left-handed reliever to strand a pair.

• Not the cleanest defensive inning for the Pirates in the second. Center fielder Luis Robert Jr. singled on a knuckling line drive Nick Gonzales couldn’t catch.

After Brett Baty’s seeing-eye single, Cruz was lucky when he wasn’t terribly quick getting the ball in; Baty’s could’ve easily reached second if he tagged. Then Triolo made an error at shortstop.

Fortunately for the Pirates, Mlodzinski struck out catcher Luis Torrens looking on a four-seam fastball to end the threat.

• Strike-throwing shouldn’t be a concern for this pitching staff, which walked two and struck out 16 on Sunday. They’ll be just fine. Only three games.

“We know we’ve gotta get the ball in the zone more. Too many free passes,” Kelly said, referencing the first two games of the series. “It’s something we’ll continue to talk about and work on. We will dominate that.”

Jason Mackey: Jason.Mackey@pirates.com and @JMackey_PGH.