PITTSBURGH — The second half of the season was off and running Friday night — but not in a good direction for the NL East’s first-place team.
Francisco Lindor’s grimace on a swing in the fifth inning, which forced him from the game, was just the start. Before long, benches were emptying at PNC Park, giving the Mets an opportunity for swings resulting in solid contact. None occurred, continuing a theme for the Mets, who managed just three hits in a 4-1 loss to the Pirates.
The biggest imminent concern is Lindor, who reached for his right side after hitting a ground ball to second base and taking just a few steps out of the batter’s box. He was replaced by Luis Guillorme at shortstop for the bottom of the fifth and will receive further evaluation Saturday. According to the Mets, he departed with right side soreness.
Then came the fireworks. After John Nogowski lined out to end the fifth, he began jawing with Mets starter Marcus Stroman, who yelled at the Pirates first baseman as he walked toward him. Catcher James McCann got between Nogowski and Stroman, as both benches and bullpens emptied. Shoving ensued, but no punches were thrown.
“[Nogowski] is a clown,” Stroman said. “Drew Smith told me he’s a clown — he’s a clown. He knows I wasn’t talking any s–t to him, I put my head down and started walking to the dugout, and he proceeded to run his mouth.”
McCann cited a possible miscommunication, saying Stroman had been irritated with plate umpire Larry Vanover, and the pitcher’s eruption in celebration after the final out of the fifth might have triggered Nogowski.
“After the out was made, I think Stroman yelled something, not at Vanover, but just yelling, and Nogowski thought he was yelling at him, so obviously just a big miscommunication,” McCann said.
Stroman was hunched over before leaving the field — he said somebody stepped on his toe during the skirmish. Later, after he departed the game, Stroman jawed with Nogowski from the dugout.
“I was just asking him why he was running away after talking all that s–t,” Stroman said.
It was the second time this season benches emptied following a Stroman exchange with a player. On June 1, Stroman and Arizona’s Josh Rojas got into a heated exchange after the final out of an inning, prompting both teams onto the field. Rojas later said he was trying to fire up the Diamondbacks, who started a rally against Stroman the following inning.
“Stroman is just showing his emotions out there like he pitches,” manager Luis Rojas said. “He’s a guy that pitches with emotions, he has fun out there, if somebody doesn’t like it I just don’t understand why. Let him have fun. A lot of people are having fun in this game and Stroman is one of those guys who does it on the mound.”
On Friday, Stroman allowed two runs on eight hits over five innings, departing after 92 pitches. The right-hander scuffled, but managed to keep the Mets in the game.
Stroman allowed two runs in a rocky second inning, which included a 30-minute rain delay. With the bases loaded and one out in a scoreless game, play was halted by heavy rain. When action resumed, Stroman retired Chad Kuhl, but surrendered a two-run single to Adam Frazier. Ke’Bryan Hayes followed with a single for the Pirates’ fifth hit of the inning, but Stroman struck out Bryan Reynolds to contain the damage.
“I just thought I battled,” Stroman said. “I definitely wasn’t sharp, but after letting those two runs in, my priority was to go five or six innings and keep my team in the game, and I thought I did an OK job.”
Wilmer Difo greeted Stroman’s replacement, Smith, with a homer leading off the sixth that extended the Pirates’ lead to 3-1. Reynolds homered against Jeurys Familia in the seventh to give the Pirates their final run.
The Pirates are anchored in the NL Central basement, but they have been a nuisance to the Mets, who have lost three of the five games between the teams this season. Included was a 6-5 gut-punch last Sunday at Citi Field, in which Edwin Diaz allowed two runs in the ninth inning.
On this night, the Mets went 0-for-12 with runners in scoring position and managed just one hit after the second inning.
The Mets broke through with a run in the fourth, ending an 11-inning scoreless streak against the Pirates that began last Sunday. Pete Alonso drew a leadoff walk and Jeff McNeil reached on shortstop Kevin Newman’s error before Jonathan Villar, with one out, got the run home from third with a groundout.
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