NEW YORK -- JT Brubaker and the Pirates went into the bottom of the sixth tied with the Mets at two.
By the time Kyle Keller left the mound -- 53 pitches, 13 batters, two pitching changes and 10 runs later -- the Mets were in complete control. The Pirates would begin their final series before the All-Star break with a 13-4 loss at Citi Field Friday.
It was the first time the Pirates allowed double-digit runs in an inning in nearly two years, the last time coming against the Reds on July 29, 2019.
But as far as big innings go, this one seemingly came out of nowhere. Not just because the Mets entered the day as the second-lowest scoring team in baseball, behind only the Pirates, but because Brubaker to that point had been rolling.
“He was very much in control,” Derek Shelton said.
Brandon Nimmo got things started with a base hit. Then Brubaker lost Francisco Lindor after getting ahead 0-2, walking him. Dominic Smith broke the tie with a run-scoring hit.
Then, after a visit from pitching coach Oscar Marin, Brubaker left a slider over the heart of the plate to Pete Alonso, who put it into the bullpen in right-center.
It was the second homer Brubaker allowed on the night, the first coming from Jonathan Villar in the third inning.
The long ball has been a problem for him of late. After allowing 11 over his first 13 starts, he has been lit up for seven during his past three.
“Really, it’s the slider,” Brubaker said.
Four of those seven home runs Brubaker has allowed recently, including both Friday, have come off sliders that dropped down instead of getting run:
“I throw it a lot, and then when I hang it -- for instance, middle-down to Alonso today, a good slider hitter -- it’s going to be backspun and hit out of the park,” he said. “So it’s just trying to limit the mistake pitches with the slider.”
Shelton wasn’t going to Sam Howard yet because of the left-right matchup with Alonso, but he also wanted to see if Brubaker could respond.
"It's very important for [him to be in] those situations,” Shelton said. “Tonight, we saw the negative side of that. We've seen it in other sides of that where he has executed pitches and made them. He has to continue to learn, he has to continue to get better. Tonight was one of those nights where he didn't execute a pitch and it ended up costing us."
Going to Howard earlier wouldn’t have helped, anyway. The lefty consistently missed the strike zone, walking three and plunking another in his six batters-faced.
“It just looked like he was against his arm side with everything,” Shelton said. “Fastball to his glove side, both to right-handers and left-handers. It looked like he just could not go back to the middle and to his arm side."
After being one of the Pirates’ most reliable relievers over the first third of the season, this was Howard’s second ugly outing in his last six. The other came June 18, when he allowed six runs and couldn’t complete his inning. Two days later, the Pirates placed him on the injured list with right knee tendonitis, which he had been dealing with for most of the year.
Shelton said Howard did not mention anything about his knee after Friday's outing.
Inheriting the bases loaded and only one out, Keller promptly surrendered the deciding blow, with Lindor getting a liner just over the wall in left for a grand slam.
Up until that inning, the Pirates had kept the Mets off balance through the first five frames.
“We did not execute pitches after that,” Shelton said.
Including their last game Wednesday, the Pirates have allowed five-, seven- and 10-run innings over their past two contests.
They’ll have two seven-inning games in a doubleheader Saturday and a nine-inning finale Sunday before they call the first half of the season a wrap.
MORE FROM THE GAME
• Friday's performance brings a somewhat inconsistent first half of the season to a close for Brubaker. While he started strong and has looked poised for a breakout at times this year, he has also had some rough outings, inflating his ERA to 4.47 over 88 2/3 innings.
Asked what he is looking to improve on in the second half of the season, Brubaker talked about continuing to attack hitters, but doing a better job bouncing back from mistake pitches.
"It seems a lot easier said than done, but that’s what I want to do moving forward after the All-Star break," Brubaker said. "Just focusing on not always trying to throw the perfect pitch, but just making sure I execute a pitch where I need to, and if I miss, it’s going to be down or away from them, not into the zone."
• In one of the few bright spots for the Pirates in the loss, rookie infielder Rodolfo Castro picked up his first career hit and home run, coming off the bench as a pinch-hitter in the seventh inning.
"I hope this comes off the right way, but I'm just so proud of myself," Castro said through team translator Mike Gonzalez. "...There's an overwhelming internal joy inside of me that my first hit was a home run."
Castro was playing for the Curve in Altoona earlier this week, and he ended up crushing a 403-foot homer to right-center in New York for his first big league knock. Part of the key was to convince himself there wasn't a difference between the two spots.
"I told myself, 'You know what, man, just imagine that this is Altoona and enjoy every bit of it,' " Castro said. " 'Have fun out here. Be you, enjoy the game, enjoy this practice, have all the fun that you can and just make sure that you're being you.' And I went out there just imagining that I'm in Altoona and try and enjoy my opportunity of being here. Try to enjoy every bit that I could, and I'm just grateful that everything turned out the way it did tonight. I mean, it's unfortunate we didn't get the victory, but I'm very grateful that I was able to reach the dream."
• Some roster moves to go through Friday: Duane Underwood Jr. was placed on the 10-day injured list (retroactive to July 8) with right side discomfort. Austin Davis was recalled from Indianapolis to take his place, and threw two innings Friday.
Geoff Hartlieb, who was designated for assignment last week when the Pirates traded for John Nogowski, was claimed off waivers by the Mets. Nogowski went 3-for-4 with a double and a walk Friday.
Steven Brault (lat) will throw his first rehab game Sunday with Class A Bradenton.
GETTY
Kyle Keller.
THE ESSENTIALS
THE LINEUPS
Shelton's card:
1. Adam Frazier, 2B
2. Ke'Bryan Hayes, 3B
3. Bryan Reynolds, CF
4. Ben Gamel, LF
5. John Nogowski, 1B
6. Kevin Newman, SS
7. Michael Pérez, C
8. Jared Oliva, RF
9. JT Brubaker, RHP
And for Luis Rojas's Mets:
1. Brandon Nimmo, CF
2. Francisco Lindor, SS
3. Dominic Smith, LF
4. Pete Alonso, 1B
5. Jeff McNeil, 2B
6. Michael Conforto, RF
7. Jonathan Villar, 3B
8. James McCann, C
9. Taijuan Walker, LHP
THE SCHEDULE
The Pirates will make up Thursday's rainout with a pair of seven-inning contests Saturday. Tyler Anderson (4-8, 4.39) and Marcus Stroman (6-6, 2.60) will get things started at 4:10 p.m., and Max Kranick (1-0, 0.00) will take on Tyler Megill (0-0, 3.77) shortly after for game two. Kranick will be the 27th player for the twin bill.
IN THE SYSTEM
THE CONTENT
Visit our team page for everything.