Luis Torrens had three hits and three RBIs and Edwin Diaz pitched a scoreless ninth inning in his return from suspension as the visiting New York Mets beat the Pittsburgh Pirates 5-2 on Saturday.
Diaz returned after serving a 10-game suspension for violating MLB’s policy on foreign substances. He hit leadoff hitter Oneil Cruz with a pitch before Rowdy Tellez struck out and Andrew McCutchen grounded into a double play.
Brandon Nimmo had three hits for New York, which snapped a three-game losing skid.
Jose Butto (3-3) followed starter David Peterson and tossed 1 2/3 scoreless innings for the win. Reed Garrett and Dedniel Nunez each pitched a scoreless inning before the Mets turned to Diaz.
Cruz homered for Pittsburgh, which was outhit 11-6 after tying a franchise record with seven home runs in a 14-2 win over the Mets in Friday’s opener of the four-game series.
After scoring a total of two runs in their previous 24 innings, New York got on the board on Torrens’ bases-clearing double in the third inning against Dennis Santana.
Pittsburgh starter Bailey Falter (4-7) began the inning by allowing the first three batters to reach base before exiting due to left posterior arm discomfort. Santana replaced Falter and struck out the next two batters before Torrens’ three-run double off the center-field wall.
The Pirates cut into the lead on Cruz’s two-run homer against Peterson with two outs in the fourth inning. The 441-foot homer was Cruz’s 13th this season.
Peterson allowed two runs on five hits with two walks and five strikeouts over 4 1/3 innings.
New York moved ahead 5-2 with two runs in the sixth inning against Ryder Ryan, who allowed a Jose Iglesias’ one-out RBI double before Torrens scored on Harrison Bader’s sacrifice fly.
Pittsburgh loaded the bases against Reed Garrett with one out in the seventh, but New York escaped unscathed when Ke’Bryan Hayes lined out and Jack Suwinski struck out.
Pirates manager Derek Shelton was ejected after arguing a pair of called strikes during Suwinski’s at-bat.
Bryan Reynolds had two hits for Pittsburgh and is 9-for-17 (.529) over his last five games.
–Field Level Media
