New York Mets vs. Pittsburgh Pirates: Prediction, Preview, Picks & Odds - 9/6/2022

Time: 6:35 p.m. ET

Venue: PNC Park, Pittsburgh, PA

Where to watch: SNY, AT&T SportsNet-PIT

DraftKings: Mets -215, Pirates +185
FanDuel: Mets -230, Pirates +190

BetMGM: NL

Caesars: Mets -220, Pirates +180

Mets: 85-50 (1st place, NL East)

Pirates: 49-84 (Last place, NL Central)

This might not be the 2007 New York Mets where they blew a large lead in September and missed the playoffs altogether, but this is surely setting up to be one hell of a run to the finish atop the National League East. And the Mets are, as expected, at the front and center of it. Not that far behind them would be the defending World Series champion Atlanta Braves, somehow much better and more efficient than last year’s Cinderella club.

But we’re surely on a crash course for the end-of-September matchup between the Mets and Braves that might determine the division champion, but both teams have a lot of baseball to play before we get to that point. For the Mets, they’re starting a three-game series against the Pittsburgh Pirates coming off losing two of three at home to the Washington Nationals, both by a score of 7-1.

Monday’s Labor Day matchup was postponed and there will be a split doubleheader on Wednesday at PNC Park.

The Mets are getting healthy at the right time, with Max Scherzer and Jacob deGrom both back in the rotation. Things are supposed to be looking up, and to be 35 games above .500 is another major accomplishment to hang your hat on, especially for a group that wasn’t expected to be as competitive as they have been.

But the Mets are in that Jeckyll-and-Hyde mode right now. They can win a few big games against the Los Angeles Dodgers, but only to fall back this past weekend against the lowly Nationals. It’s not like the sky is falling. With how close the Braves have made this division race, the Mets still haven’t squandered it. They’ve been in first place for about four, five months with no let-up in sight. The only challenge they have right now is containing the Braves, who seem more primed than ever to defend their championship.

“It’s about us,” manager Buck Showalter said. “It’s been that way the whole year. That’s an obstacle we’ll face when we face it.”

The problem right now with the Mets is their inability to hit the baseball, which was one of their biggest strengths going in. The Mets have gotten runners on base, but are just 13 of 75 with runners in scoring position over the last 12 games. Pete Alonso and Francisco Lindor have been struggling, and if those two can’t get it going, the runs aren’t there and the game-changing hits are far and few between.

“We’re all seeing it,” Showalter said.

If there is some silver lining for the Mets in getting back on track, it’s hitting the ball and pitching well against a struggling Pittsburgh club. The Pirates are coming off getting swept by the Toronto Blue Jays over the weekend and have lost 12 of their last 14.

Pittsburgh has gone through some growing pains with the young players in its lineup, and it’s still going to be a bit before they’re on the come-up like the Baltimore Orioles. It’s going to be a struggle before Ke’Bryan Hayes becomes a superstar, before Bryan Reynolds actually wants out, and Oneil Cruz doesn’t look like a 6-foot-8 stick swinging a baseball bat.

That doubleheader might be a bit more than the Mets can chew, but this first game should go off without a hitch. Taijuan Walker gets the call for the Mets, and we should expect a strong outing from him. Mets win 6-1

The Mets are 8-1 this season following a game where the bullpen went six or more innings.

The Mets are 17-5 this season when playing with a day off.

The Mets are 26-8 after losing two of three.

The Pirates are 39-77 this season as an underdog.

The Pirates are 8-20 this season against NL East opponents.

Mets:
Brandon Nimmo (L) CF
Starling Marte (R) RF
Francisco Lindor (S) SS
Pete Alonso (R) DH
Mark Canha (R) LF
Darin Ruf (R) 1B
Jeff McNeil (L) 2B
Eduardo Escobar (S) 3B
James McCann (R) C
SP - Taijuan Walker

Pirates:
Oneil Cruz (L) SS
Bryan Reynolds (S) CF
Rodolfo Castro (S) 3B
Ben Gamel (L) DH
Jack Suwinski (L) LF
Cal Mitchell (L) RF
Josh VanMeter (L) 1B
Tucupita Marcano (L) 2B
Tyler Heineman (S) C
SP - Mitch Keller

Batting average: Jeff McNeil -- .320

Home runs: Pete Alonso -- 32

RBI: Pete Alonso -- 106

Wins: Carlos Carrasco -- 13

ERA: Max Scherzer -- 2.26

Batting average: Bryan Reynolds -- .251

Home runs: Bryan Reynolds -- 12

RBI: Bryan Reynolds -- 48

Wins: Two tied -- 5

ERA: N/A