Change your scenery, change your life: Luis Robert Jr. walks it off for Mets in the 11th

Mets 4 Pirates 2 (Citi Field, Flushing, NY)

Mets record: 2-0

Mets streak: Won 2

WP - Richard Lovelady (1-0)

LP - Hunter Barco (0-1)

Seat on the Korner: Luis Robert Jr.

We select a Star of the Game and virtually invite him to take his Seat on the Korner — just as Ralph Kiner did on WOR-TV Channel 9 during the early days of the New York Mets.

Continuing the tradition of Rheingold Beer sponsoring Kiner’s Korner, this season every seat is proudly presented by The Main Event Restaurant & Sports Bar.

With locations in Plainview and Farmingdale, The Main Event features 80+ HD TVs, fresh daily seafood, and Black Angus certified steaks—so you never have to choose between great food and the big game.

Two-for-two for the seat so far in 2026, Luis Robert Jr. is showing to be a textbook "change of scenery" guy as his homer in the 11th gave the Mets a 4-2 win on Saturday and keep their record unblemished in this so far short sample size.

Need to Know

• Carlos Mendoza went to the same lineup as he did for Opening Day. The Mets only used the same lineup in back-to-back games five times in 2025.

• Bo Bichette's single in the 4th inning was his first hit as a Met.

• David Peterson's first start of the season ended in a scoreless outing ... 6 hits and two walks over 5 and 1/3 innings with three strikeouts.

• Mitch Keller pitched 6 scoreless innings for the Pirates and gave up three hits and no walks with 3 K's.

• Luke Weaver made hits Mets debut and pitched a scoreless 7th, giving up just one hit.

• Devin Williams also made his Mets debut and pitched a scoreless 9th, giving up a double to Jake Magnum and walking Ryan O'Hearn before getting out of the inning.

• Luis Robert Jr.'s walk off homer was the second of his career, and the fourth walk off RBI of his career.

• The Pirates were 2-for-18 with runners in scoring position while leaving 17 on base, while the Mets were 3-for-14 leaving 9 on base.

Turning Point

For a game that was 0-0 heading to the 10th, it was a game that had many of those "low key" turning points that could have been dissected to death.

But I think it's best to not think too much with this one. Luis Robert Jr.'s three run dinger in the 11th off Hunter Barco was the ultimate turning point in a game that saw the Pirates drive in two ghost runners and throw out two Mets runners at the plate in the 10th in a game that was looking like an early season gut punch until Robert turned one around and sent the fans home happy.

Three Keys

Grinding Away

I never would have labeled Luis Robert Jr. as a grinder. Maybe he has been and I just haven't been paying attention. But at least so far this season, he's shown to be a guy who will put together some good at-bats. In addition to the long at-bat during Thursday's opener, he had a 7 pitch at-bat in the 4th, a 5 pitch walk in the 7th, and a 6 pitch at-bat in the 9th which ended with a meek grounder back to the pitcher, but it was much better than a flailing strikeout or a double play, and it sent the runner to second which took the Mets out of a traditional double play situation.

The homer was on a slider down ... not a bad pitch. But he went down and got it with a short swing, and you can see the raw power that he has to get it out of the park on a cold and windy night. It's really enough to get you excited over what he's capable of. Maybe the 2023 version of Robert Jr. is back. Maybe "change of scenery" isn't just a media buzz phrase when it comes to him.

Even during his shorter at-bats like the one in the 11th, he benefits from others who grind out at-bats, like Jorge Polanco did right in front of him when he worked a walk from being down 0-2.

Luck Isn't Just for the Irish

The Mets needed that rally in the 11th, but they also needed a rally in the 10th, and they got a little divine intervention. After Marcus Semien was hit by Hunter Barco, Mark Vientos was up as a pinch hitter for Carson Benge. And with a 1-2 count, Barco threw a splitter that was out of the strike zone, but Vientos probably should have been rung up on the check swing.

Instead, the first base ump gave him a reprieve, and it led to a single by Vientos which led to this ...

Luis Torrens' single tied the game at 1-1. Seeing as it was followed by two force outs at the plate on a grounder to second and a topper to Barco that he made a great play on, the Vientos check swing and subsequent single was a huge moment in this game.

Straight Air

Today was Devin Williams' Mets debut, coming into a tie game in the 9th. We know that he's known for the "Air Bender". But with a runner on third and two outs, Ryan O'Hearn did a great job waiting out the Air Bender and drawing a walk.

Then with an 0-2 count on Bryan Reynolds, he threw his changeup and Reynolds spit on it. It was then that I wondered aloud "does he go with the high fastball and surprise him?"

He certainly did, and his first outing as a Met was a success.