PITTSBURGH -- Entering the eighth day of August, the Pirates hadn’t scored five or more runs in a game in the month. That was until Saturday night’s outburst.
Pittsburgh led from start to finish, eclipsing the five-run mark for the first time in August and taking down the Mets, 9-0. Bubba Chandler threw six scoreless innings while the Pirates scored their most runs since the day before the All-Star break.
The Pirates’ offense beat up on Mets starter Robert Stock early. Jake Mangum led off the bottom of the first with a double off the top of the right-field wall, screaming in excitement. Bryan Reynolds and Spencer Horwitz reached on an infield single and a hit by pitch, respectively, and Nick Gonzales drove in Mangum on a squibber to first base.
Then, Ronny Simon came to the plate and slashed a double down the left-field line to score Reynolds and Horwitz. Simon was called up as the replacement for Marcell Ozuna. The 26-year-old tallied his first two hits of the season on Friday against the Mets. For an encore, he ballooned the lead to 3-0 in the opening frame. Simon added on in the third with a drag bunt, stolen base and a run off a single by Jacob Gonzalez.
With Stock still on the mound in the fourth, Pittsburgh’s offense returned to its earlier dominant form. The Pirates poured on four more runs without recording an out to chase Stock and build an 8-0 lead.
Meanwhile, Chandler excelled on the mound. He allowed only three hits and kept New York well beyond an arm’s length, not even allowing a baserunner to reach second base.
Pittsburgh added on to further the blowout in the seventh, with Mets catcher Luis Torrens on the mound.