Syndergaard, Mets dump sinking Pirates
NEW YORK -- Noah Syndergaard carried a shutout into the ninth inning Wednesday night and the New York Mets snapped out of an offensive funk by delivering a season-high 19 hits in an 11-2 win over the Pittsburgh Pirates at Citi Field.
The Mets (35-29), who were limited to three hits in a 4-0 loss to the Pirates on Tuesday, snapped a three-game losing streak. The 11 runs were more than New York scored in the last four games combined (nine).
The Pirates (33-32) lost six of seven.
Seven players had multiple hits for the Mets, who got at least one hit from every starter except Syndergaard. Wilmer Flores homered and collected a season-high four RBIs while Kelly Johnson went 3-for-5 with a solo homer and two RBIs.
Matt Reynolds and Rene Rivera each had three hits and two RBIs while Yoenis Cespedes finished with three hits. James Loney had an RBI.
Syndergaard allowed two runs (one earned) on five hits and no walks while striking out 11 over a career-high 8 1/3 innings. The long-haired right-hander's fastball was regularly clocked at or near 100 mph as he retired 17 straight batters between John Jaso's single on the first pitch of the game and Jaso's two-out single in the sixth.
The crowd of 32,117 gave Syndergaard a standing ovation when he batted for himself in the eighth and again when he jogged out of the dugout for the ninth. Chants of "NO-AH" rained down during the ninth, but Syndergaard's pursuit of the shutout ended when Jaso delivered a leadoff double and scored on David Freese's one-out pinch-hit double to left-center.
Freese scored when Flores threw away a ground ball by Jung Ho Kang.
Left-hander Jeff Locke endured a second straight rough start as he allowed seven runs on nine hits and one walk while striking out three over four innings. He has given up 18 runs on 20 hits over 8 2/3 innings in his last two outings.
The Mets wasted no time equaling their hit total from Tuesday. New York loaded the bases with none out via two hits and a single before Flores' chopper in between first and the mound scored Curtis Granderson. With two outs, Reynolds laced a two-run double down the third base line.
Johnson homered in the third before the Mets batted around during a three-run fifth in which Flores, Johnson and Rivera all had RBI singles.
NOTES: The injury-plagued Mets absorbed another hit about an hour before first pitch, when LF Juan Lagares, who was scheduled to leadoff, was scratched due to lingering soreness in his left thumb. The Mets were already without 2B Neil Walker (lower back), who underwent an MRI prior to missing his third straight game, and LF Michael Conforto (wrist). ... The Mets' lineup shuffle left 3B Wilmer Flores and 2B Matt Reynolds batting fourth and sixth, respectively, for the first time this season. ... Pirates RHP Gerrit Cole, who went on the disabled list Tuesday with a triceps injury, has yet to resume throwing but said he hopes to play "a majority of the season." ... Pirates C Chris Stewart got the night off due to various nicks and bruises. He passed a concussion test after being hit by Lagares' backswing on Tuesday.