NEW YORK (AP) — Taijuan Walker won back-to-back starts for the first time in two months, Daniel Vogelbach homered against his former team and the New York Mets beat the Pittsburgh Pirates 4-3 Friday night.
Pete Alonso had his National League-leading 113th RBI for New York (91-55), which is assured of its most wins since going 97-65 in 2006. The Mets began the night with a one-game lead over second-place Atlanta in the NL East.
Jeff McNeil, making a rare appearance in right field, saved at least one run with a spectacular catch against the wall that robbed Oneil Cruz.
Cruz hit a two-run homer for last-place Pittsburgh (55-90), which has lost 90 or more games in each of the last four fully completed seasons.
Walker (12-4) allowed three runs — two earned — and five hits with five strikeouts while matching his season high of 7 1/3 innings.
Edwin Díaz allowed only a walk in 1 2/3 innings for his 30th save in 33 chances. He reached 30 saves for the second straight season and fourth time in his big league career.
Mitch Keller (5-11) gave up three runs and five hits in six innings.
New York went ahead in the third when Eduardo Escobar walked with one out and, running on the pitch, scored from first on Tomás Nido’s opposite-field single to right. Nido ran through a stop sign from third base coach Joey Cora and slid headfirst across the plate as Ben Gamel’s throw went about 15 feet up the third-base line.
Vogelbach, acquired from the Pirates on July 22, drove a 94 mph sinker to left-center in the fourth. The burly designated hitter has 17 homers this season, including five with the Mets. He had not gone deep since Aug. 22.
Michael Chavis had a run-scoring infield single in the fifth, when McNeil made a leaping catch near the top of the right-field wall of a Cruz drive for the final out with two on. McNeil made just his fifth start in right field this season.
Alonso put New York ahead 3-1 with a sacifice fly in the sixth, when Luis Guillorme stranded the bases loaded with a popout.
Brando Nimmo added an RBI single in the seventh against Manny Bañuelos.
Cruz homered in the eighth on Walker’s 100th and final pitch, a 429-foot drive to dead center. Cruz has 16 homers, tied with teammate Jack Suwinski for second-most amongst National League rookies.
Which proved vital when Cruz crushed a two-run home run to center field in the 8th to cut the lead to 4-3. The homer was the 16th of the season for Cruz, tied with teammate Jack Suwinski for second amongst National League rookies, two behind Atlanta’s Michael Harris.
