Mets run ends as Pirates Stock up on hits

Pirates 9 Mets 0 (PNC Park, Pittsburgh, PA)

Mets record: 51-67

Mets streak: Lost 1

WP - Bubba Chandler (5-8)

LP - Robert Stock (0-2)

Seat on the Korner: Jake Mangum

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.

I'll give it to the ex-Met farmhand because I'm cruel like that. Mangum went 3-for-5 with two runs and an RBI, and his double to lead off the game set an ominous tone for the Mets in a 9-0 whitewashing by the Buccos.

Need to Know

• Carson Benge missed tonight's game with the wrist injury that he suffered on Friday night, but he says that he should be okay relatively soon.

• Robert Stock was pummeled tonight, going three plus innings and giving up 8 runs on 9 hits and 5 walks while striking out 4 batters. His ERA rose to 10.13. The 8 runs were the most that Stock gave up in his major league career.

• The Mets last hit of the game was Francisco Lindor's single in the 4th inning. They had one baserunner since.

• Lindor and Bo Bichette left the game in the 5th inning as the Mets called off the dogs down by 8 runs.

• Gabriel Arias made his Mets debut as a result of Bichette/Lindor heading for the hills. Arias went 0-for-2 with a strikeout at the plate and made a throwing error at shortstop.

• Luis Torrens pitched two innings in relief. The last position player to pitch two innings was Darin Ruf in 2022.

• Torrens was the only Mets pitcher to not walk a batter as Mets pitchers totaled nine walks between Stock and Xzavion Curry.

• The Mets suffered their 12th shutout of the season, which leads all of baseball.

Turning Point

The magic carpet ride of Robert Stock was stuck at the gate tonight (much like Steve Gelbs' flights out of Cleveland.) The turning point was honestly the first batter of the game ... Jake Mangum hit one hard that was mere feet from being a leadoff homer on Stock's second pitch of the night. He wasn't helped by his defense as Bo Bichette failed to cover third base on a grounder to short with one out, and it all led to a tone setting three run inning which culminated with Ronny Simon's two run double.

Three Keys

You Can't Spell Bubba Without "BB" (Until the third time through the order)

Bubba Chandler walked 61 batters this season, good for second in the N.L., and averaged five walks a game. Tonight? Nothing through five innings.

In the 4th inning alone, Bo Bichette struck out swinging at a pitch near his eyes, Jared Young struck out on the slider you saw above, and Luis Robert looked at strike two on a fastball right down the middle. Was it Bubba that had the Mets confused? Or was it the same Mets approach that has failed them all year?

Sent To The Stockade

Look, Robert Stock wasn't going keep up his run of being the Rick Sutcliffe of Kevin Gausmans. Just wasn't going to happen. The regression to the mean was inevitable. But the fall was so precipitous that you could hear the thud all the way from New York.

Maybe it's a different game if Bo Bichette covers third, but the only thing that might have changed was that it would have been 6-0 instead of 8-0, and Luis Torrens doesn't get to pitch. Speaking of ...

What Are We Evaluating?

The Mets were in full white flag mode tonight. Bichette and Lindor were gone by the 5th inning, presumably to argue over whether to call it a pierogi or a dumpling. Xzavion Curry was in for three innings, and then Andy Green brought in Luis Torrens to pitch the final two innings.

Look, I get it. You don't want your pitchers wasting bullets in games like this. But the Mets are in full evaluation mode. Nate Lavender threw 15 pitches on Thursday. Kodai Senga threw 14 pitches on Thursday. Chayce McDermott last pitched on Wednesday. We can't evaluate one of those guys? If they get hit around, it doesn't matter but at least you found out something. Instead, Green decided to make a farce out of the last two innings and learned absolutely nothing.

If the Mets were in a pennant race, then absolutely. Throw Torrens. Throw Gabriel Arias. Bring back Omar Quintanilla to throw three innings. Save the arms for an important game. But the manager brought in to evaluate players doesn't have a pitcher to evaluate? Even if it's just for the 7th inning? I'm sorry, but that one doesn't make sense unless you're thinking of making Torrens the next Shohei Ohtani next season (whenever next season may be.)