PITTSBURGH — Christian Scott was rolling with two outs in the sixth inning Monday at 77 pitches when his manager went to the mound and asked for the baseball.
All hell was about to break loose for the Mets.
The flurry after Carlos Mendoza removed his starter included a walk, three singles (two of which weren’t hit particularly hard), double, error, wild pitch and homer.
Eric Orze, in his major league debut, lit the fire and Adrian Houser behind him turned it into an inferno in an 8-2 loss to the Pirates at PNC Park.
Mendoza said it was decided before the game that the rookie Scott, pitching on four days’ rest for the first time in his career, would be held to 75 pitches.
Especially given that Scott had thrown 99 pitches in his last outing.
“It’s a tough spot, obviously, but this kid is too important and we have to protect him,” Mendoza said, noting that Scott will also be pitching on four days’ rest in his next start.
Mendoza was asked if the relative ease of Scott’s innings on this day could have changed his mind about the pitch limit.
“It’s more the 99 pitches the last time and going on regular rest,” Mendoza said. “He was in complete control of that game. He was really good. But it’s one of those that was a hard decision.”
For a second straight four-game series, the Mets ended with a frustrating split.
The other occurred last week in Washington, where the Mets (44-45) had two winnable games escape them after victories in the first two.
It left the Mets headed home for six games against the Nationals and Rockies before the All-Star break with a sense of urgency to regain momentum.
Since sweeping the Yankees two games at Citi Field two weeks ago the Mets are 5-6 and haven’t won a series.
“Going into this series we knew we were going to face good pitching and even with the Nationals,” Brandon Nimmo said. “I know everybody thinks we were supposed to go 6-2 on this road trip, but honestly 4-4 is not the worst and I would have loved 5-3 or something like that. But with the pitching that we faced and the offensive production teams put up I think coming away with this we can still look at things positively.”
Scott, in his second start since returning from Triple-A Syracuse, allowed two earned runs on one hit and one walk with three strikeouts over 5 ²/₃ innings.
But after he retired Andrew McCutchen for the second out in the sixth, Scott was removed and the Pirates responded against Orze and Houser.
Scott said he was told by Mendoza before his start that he would be capped at 75 pitches.
“I knew that [Sunday], he told me ahead of time and I really trust him and his decision-making,” Scott said. “I think he’s done an amazing job by me. I am grateful for the opportunity that he gave me to compete. I got weak contact and was hoping to get through six.”
Orze, who had waited two games after arriving from Syracuse for his major league debut, walked Reynolds before Cruz singled.
Orze got Rowdy Tellez to hit a slow grounder to the shortstop hole, but the hefty first baseman beat Mark Vientos’ throw for an infield hit that gave the Pirates a 3-2 lead.
Mendoza said he decided ahead of time that Orze would be the choice to follow Scott.
Houser followed Orze and got Nick Gonzales to poke a grounder between Pete Alonso and first base that went for a two-run double with an error on McNeil in right that allowed him to reach third.
Gonzales scored on a wild pitch and Joshua Pallacios’ ensuing homer extended the Mets’ deficit to 7-2.
Oneil Cruz blasted a two-run homer in the fourth that put the Mets in a 2-0 hole.
Scott walked McCutchen leading off the inning before Cruz jumped on a splitter and launched it 431 feet to left-center.
Nimmo delivered a two-run homer in the sixth against Mitch Keller that tied it 2-2.
“There’s some games that have gotten away from us, but that is the story of the year so far,” Nimmo said. “We haven’t been able to lock down wins all the time and that’s a problem. But we’re hoping to address it and get better at it. … We know it’s in there, but it’s a problem, there is no question, but I still think there’s positives to look at on this road trip.”
