The Pittsburgh Pirates surged past the New York Mets with a 9–2 victory at PNC Park, thanks to a late offensive explosion and some timely pitching.
The game began with promise for the Mets—Francisco Lindor doubled to lead off the first inning and scored on a Juan Soto single to give New York an early 1–0 lead. But a lengthy 89-minute rain delay in the second inning shifted the momentum. While the Pirates pulled starter Bailey Falter after the delay, the Mets stuck with Paul Blackburn, and it backfired. Blackburn gave up five straight hits in the bottom of the second, allowing Pittsburgh to take a 3–1 lead.
Brandon Nimmo’s RBI single in the fifth brought the Mets within one, but that was as close as they’d get. The Pirates blew the game open in the eighth inning with a six-run rally, highlighted by consecutive two-run doubles from Andrew McCutchen and Bryan Reynolds. Ke’Bryan Hayes also had a big day, collecting two hits and two RBIs, including the go-ahead single in that eighth-inning outburst.
On the mound, Braxton Ashcraft earned the win for Pittsburgh with 2⅔ innings of one-run relief. Blackburn took the loss for New York, falling to 0–3 on the season. Mets manager Carlos Mendoza was ejected in the fourth inning for arguing balls and strikes.
The Pirates improved to 34–50, while the Mets dropped to 48–36 and have now lost 12 of their last 15 games. McCutchen also reached a milestone, playing in his 2,200th career game, the most among active MLB players.
New York Mets (2) @ Pittsburgh Pirates (9)
June 28, 2025 • PNC Park
Line Score:
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Mets 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 2 10 1
Pirates 0 3 0 0 0 0 0 6 x 9 12 0
METS BATTERS
Player AB R H RBI BB SO
Francisco Lindor, SS 4 1 1 0 1 0
Mark Vientos, 3B 5 0 1 0 0 1
Juan Soto, RF 5 0 1 1 0 3
Pete Alonso, 1B 4 1 2 0 0 1
Brandon Nimmo, LF 4 0 2 1 0 0
Starling Marte, DH 3 0 1 0 1 2
Tyrone Taylor, CF 4 0 0 0 0 1
Brett Baty, 2B 3 0 1 0 1 0
Luis Torrens, C 4 0 1 0 0 1
——————————————
TOTALS 36 2 10 2 3 9
METS PITCHERS
Paul Blackburn (L, 0–3) 1.0 IP, 6 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 0 BB, 2 SO
José Buttó 2.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 1 SO
Brandon Waddell 3.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 3 SO
Reed Garrett 1.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 0 SO
Huascar Brazobán 0.1 IP, 2 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 2 BB, 1 SO
Colin Poche 0.2 IP, 2 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 1 SO
PIRATES BATTERS
Player AB R H RBI BB SO
Adam Frazier, LF 3 0 0 1 0 1
Alexander Canario, PH 0 1 0 0 0 0
Andrew McCutchen, DH 4 1 2 2 0 0
Bryan Reynolds, RF 5 0 1 2 0 1
Nick Gonzales, 2B 4 1 2 0 1 0
Oneil Cruz, CF 4 1 1 0 0 1
Joey Bart, C 3 1 2 1 0 0
Henry Davis, PR 0 1 0 0 0 0
Spencer Horwitz, 1B 3 2 1 0 0 0
Ke’Bryan Hayes, 3B 4 1 2 2 0 0
Isiah Kiner-Falefa, SS 4 0 1 1 0 0
——————————————
TOTALS 34 9 12 9 1 3
PIRATES PITCHERS
Bailey Falter 7.0 IP, 6 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 0 BB, 3 SO
Braxton Ashcraft (W, 2–0) 2.2 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 3 SO
Dennis Santana 0.1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 0 SO
Caleb Ferguson 0.1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 0 SO
David Bednar (SV, 18) 1.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 1 SO
Here’s the starting pitchers penciled in for Sunday, June 29 at PNC Park (1:35 p.m. ET):
• New York Mets – RHP Frankie Montás – Making just his 2nd start of 2025 – 5.0 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 9 K → 0.00 ERA
• Pittsburgh Pirates – RHP Mike Burrows – 6 starts, 30.1 IP, 6 BB, 30 K – 1–2 W-L, 4.45 ERA, 1.286 WHIP2
(photo courtesy of ESPN)