Syndergaard whiffs 11; Flores and Mets rout Pirates
Pittsburgh Pirates starting pitcher Jeff Locke (49) checks the runner at third base after walking New York Mets' Yoenis Cespedes to load the bases during the first inning of a baseball game, Wednesday, June 15, 2016, in New York. (AP Photo/Julie Jacobson)
New York Mets' Wilmer Flores (4) heads for the dugout after crossing home plate after hitting a two-run home run against the Pittsburgh Pirates during the sixth inning of a baseball game, Wednesday, June 15, 2016, in New York. Yoenis Cespedes (52) also scored on the play. (AP Photo/Julie Jacobson)
NEW YORK – Noah Syndergaard struck out 11 and took a shutout into the ninth inning, Wilmer Flores homered and drove in four runs, and the New York Mets piled up a season-high 19 hits in routing the Pittsburgh Pirates 11-2 – Wednesday night.
Late replacement Kelly Johnson also homered for New York. Johnson, Rene Rivera and substitute second baseman Matt Reynolds each had three hits and two RBIs.
Yoenis Cespedes had three hits and scored three times as the Mets busted loose at the plate against lefty Jeff Locke (5-5). Shut out in the series opener the previous night, New York had been struggling to score lately with an injury-depleted lineup missing five regulars.
Syndergaard (7-2) received plenty of support – even if he didn’t need much. Every starting position player got a hit for the Mets, and seven of the eight had at least two.
When he came to bat in the eighth, Syndergaard received a standing ovation from the crowd of 32,117. With the big right-hander still under 100 pitches, Mets manager Terry Collins let Syndergaard try for his first big league complete game.
John Jaso doubled leading off the ninth for his third hit, however, and one out later Syndergaard gave up an RBI double to pinch-hitter David Freese. That was it for Syndergaard, who looked disappointed that he wasn’t able to finish the job.
Still, he walked off the mound to another warm ovation and settled for winning his fifth consecutive decision. Jeurys Familia finished up.
Syndergaard, who retired 17 in a row following Jaso’s sharp single on his first pitch of the night, gave up five hits and walked none in a career-high 8 1/3 innings. The second-year starter threw 115 pitches, one short of his most in the majors, and was hitting 99 mph on the radar gun in the eighth.
Earlier, he froze Pirates star Andrew McCutchen for strike three looking on a 101 mph fastball in the fourth and a 100 mph heater to end the sixth with two on.
Locke was charged with seven runs and nine hits in four-plus innings, losing his second consecutive ugly outing following a four-game winning streak.
On board
Pittsburgh signed first-round draft pick Will Craig, a third baseman out of Wake Forest. Craig receives a signing bonus of $2,253,700, the assigned slot value for his selection at No. 22 overall.
Pirates: LF Starling Marte exited in the fifth with a swollen cheek after diving for Cespedes’ single — the ball bounced in front of Marte and hit him under his left eye. The outfielder was smiling as he walked toward the dugout with a trainer. … Pittsburgh C Chris Stewart, banged up in several areas, got the night off. Stewart was smacked in the left jaw by a backswing Tuesday night, then hit by a pitch near his left hip the following inning. He came through concussion evaluations just fine, manager Clint Hurdle said, and was available off the bench. … RHP Ryan Vogelsong, on the 60-day DL after sustaining facial fractures when he was hit by a pitch last month, is “doing remarkable,” head athletic trainer Todd Tomczyk said. Vogelsong’s vision keeps improving and it was read as 20/20, Tomczyk said. The pitcher is throwing on flat ground – but not playing catch – and has been cleared to exert himself.
Mets: 2B Neil Walker (lower back) missed his third straight game and went to the doctor. “It just didn’t get much better,” manager Terry Collins said, adding he thought Walker would have an MRI. … CF Juan Lagares (left thumb) was set to bat leadoff but got scratched from the lineup about 75 minutes before the first pitch. Johnson was inserted in left field, with Cespedes shifting to center and RF Curtis Granderson moving back up to his regular leadoff spot. Lagares has only come off the bench since partially tearing a ligament in his thumb. … Collins said he’s come to grips with the possibility that 3B David Wright might not return this season if he has surgery for a herniated disk in his neck. A decision is expected soon. “He wants it resolved. He wants to move forward. Whatever it has to be, he’s ready for it,” Collins said.
Pirates RHP Juan Nicasio (5-5, 5.34 ERA) starts the rubber game of the series Thursday night against 43-year-old RHP Bartolo Colon (5-3, 3.08). Nicasio went five innings in a 3-1 win over the Mets in Pittsburgh last week but is winless in five road starts this year. Colon is 4-2 with a 1.88 ERA – his lowest against any opponent – in eight career starts vs. the Pirates.
Ace Gerrit Cole expects to come back from a strained right triceps in time to pitch “a majority of the season.”
Cole was placed on the disabled list Tuesday, retroactive to June 11. There is no specific timetable for his return, but it sounds as though he likely will be sidelined more than the minimum 15 days.
“It’s frustrating, but you try to look at the positives,” Cole said Wednesday at Citi Field. “I mean, there are a lot worse injuries out there that you can deal with. We should be in play for a majority of the season.”
The right-hander said he doesn’t want to put any particular numbers on how much time he might miss. Head athletic trainer Todd Tomczyk said it’s too early to tell how long Cole could be out.
“We’re not going to rush it, and we’re not going to take this slow. We need to do it right,” said Cole, already receiving all sorts of treatment. “In a situation like this, you don’t really want to put dates on anything because you can hit snafus and setbacks here or there and you just don’t want to put anything in concrete.
“I would say that the one thing that they’ve wanted to emphasize is that the beginning of this process is just as important as the end. You need to be able to give time for the tissue to heal and to get the integrity of the tissue back before you resume throwing. And that process can take — everybody’s body is different. So I just need to get to a point where I can go through daily motions and not really think about it and not have to substitute my left hand if I’m going to be grabbing something or pulling something,” he said.
Cole is 5-4 with a 2.77 ERA in 12 starts. He went 19-8 with a 2.60 ERA last season, when he made his first All-Star team and finished fourth in NL Cy Young Award voting.
He was injured throwing a fastball last Friday against the St. Louis Cardinals and left his start in the third inning. Tests confirmed the triceps strain, Tomczyk said.
“I wouldn’t really call it pain. Just felt different, and then it kind of manifested itself when I sat down and tried to go back out for the third,” Cole said. “It’s feeling better.”
Touted prospect Jameson Taillon has taken Cole’s spot in the rotation. The big right-hander carried a no-hit bid into the seventh inning of his second major league start Tuesday night, pitching eight shutout innings of two-hit ball to beat the New York Mets for his first career win.
“A 162-game schedule is going to let you know if you have depth — if you have real depth — or if you’re lacking depth. It’s also going to give opportunities to different guys at different times,” Pirates manager Clint Hurdle said. “We’re all wound together, though. It’s not one guy that’s going to pick up the slack for Cole. We just collectively as a unit need to go out there and keep ballin’, keep playing.”
Taillon’s next outing will be Sunday night at Wrigley Field against the major league-leading Chicago Cubs.
“He just gets to go play ball now,” Hurdle said.
ON BOARD
Pittsburgh signed first-round draft pick Will Craig, a third baseman out of Wake Forest. Craig receives a signing bonus of $2,253,700, the assigned slot value for his selection at No. 22 overall.