Tyler Glasnow sensed a breakthrough was close Sunday night.
His changeup and curveball were finally breaking to create soft contact and he had allowed just one hit through three innings.
But he was reminded how quickly it can all go wrong.
The Mets proceeded to hammer Glasnow for five runs on seven hits over the next 1 2/3 innings, as the Pirates lost the final game of the series, 7-2, at PNC Park.
This latest major league lesson inflated his ERA to 6.95, yet Clint Hurdle saw enough signs to think the 23-year-old is inching closer to that long-awaited breakthrough.
"It’s the old saying, 'You want guys on the mound that have experience, but how do they get experience,'" Hurdle said afterward. "Through opportunities, through this and the trials, tribulations and the triumphs that can come with it."
Command and execution of the curveball and changeup are the reason for Hurdle's confidence in Glasnow. Those two pitches have often eluded him, including his start in Atlanta when he navigated six innings without having command of either, but they returned against the Mets.
Those two pitches are the key him being efficient and allowing him to pitch longer in games. Glasnow has lasted more than five innings in three of his 10 starts, falling behind in the count early when he only has one pitch to turn to.
He quickly got on track Sunday night, though, throwing a first-pitch strike to each Mets hitter in his first time through the order. It began with back-to-back strikeouts in the first inning, placing this curveball to get Jose Reyes swinging for the second out:
Glasnow began the fourth by getting Reyes to roll over on a two-seam fastball for the Mets' ninth ground out of the game and the first out of inning, but a problem that has plagued him all season reared its ugly head. Glasnow got long in his delivery and lost the angle on his pitches.
There was a slight dip in velocity on his four-seam fastball. Curveballs were hanging and changeups were flat.
"Yeah, it’s good to know that when I have my stuff it’s hard to hit," Glasnow said. "It’s a little frustrating knowing, though, that from one inning to the next it can kind of turn like that."
Jay Bruce reached on an infield single with one out on a chopper to Jordy Mercer. Hurdle said that's when the trouble began. Neil Walker jumped on a first-pitch elevated four-seam fastball to right for a single and Asdrubal Cabrera drilled a flat changeup on the edge of the plate to right-center for a two-run double to give the Mets a 2-1 lead.
With Glasnow on the mound, opponents are now batting .266 with a .368 on-base percentage when runners are on base, but he said that pressing in such situations is not the root of his problems:
