Pirates earn shutout victory over Mets, avoid sweep

Colin Beazley, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette on May 14, 2025

Published in Baseball

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NEW YORK — Mother Nature brought the rain. Matt Gorski brought the thunder.

Gorski hit a two-run homer through a downpour, Jared Triolo added another two-run shot in the fifth, and five Pittsburgh Pirate pitchers combined for a shutout in a 4-0 win Wednesday night at Citi Field. It’s the Pirates’ fourth shutout of the season.

Pittsburgh avoided a three-game sweep despite scoring fewer than five runs for the 20th consecutive game, extending a franchise record. The Pirates snapped a seven-game road losing streak.

Chase Shugart, who pitched 2 1/3 innings of relief after a short start from Bailey Falter, earned the second win of his career and improved to 2-3. Mets starter Clay Holmes allowed both homers and took the loss, falling to 5-2.

The game was delayed 15 minutes because of rain, which never fully stopped. Holmes had a couple pitches slip out of his hand, likely due to the weather, while Falter walked five Mets. Falter, who completed 3 2/3 innings, stood on the mound for several minutes in the second inning as the Mets grounds crew dried the field.

But Falter, and the bullpen after him, found ways to get out of trouble. He loaded the bases in the first inning, but struck out Luis Torrens to strand them. He left with two outs and the bases loaded again in the fourth, but Shugart needed just one pitch to get Jose Azocar to fly out.

The two homers were all the offense Pittsburgh needed. Ji Hwan Bae, batting ahead of Triolo, notched his first hit of the year with a bunt single. Triolo followed on the next pitch by crushing a sinker over the middle for a homer.

Tanner Rainey and David Bednar pitched scoreless innings after Shugart, with Bednar striking out two in a 1-2-3 eighth.

It was over when …

Dennis Santana pitched a scoreless ninth inning, aided by two running catches from center fielder Bae. He hadn’t appeared since the weekend, when he appeared in all three games of the Atlanta series.

On the mound

While Falter didn’t have his best command, he was able to avoid hard contact. He allowed just three hits and struck out three. The first two walks he allowed, both in the first inning, came on a 10-pitch at-bat against Pete Alonso and an eight-pitch battle with Starling Marte.

At the plate

All four runs came from the bottom half of the order. Shortstop Isiah Kiner-Falefa, batting sixth, got on before Gorski’s home run in the second inning. Bae and Triolo batted eighth and ninth. It was the second homer of the year for both Gorski and Triolo.

The Pirates had nine total hits and left six on base. They left the bases loaded in the eighth, needing just one knock to snap the 19-game streak.

Most valuable player

Mitch Keller, who started Tuesday. While Keller didn’t earn a win Tuesday, his seven innings allowed the Pirates to reset their bullpen and have everyone available for the finale on Wednesday. After a short start from Falter, Keller’s outing became even more important.

Up next

The Pirates are off Thursday. They’ll start a three-game series in Philadelphia on Friday, with lefty Andrew Heaney (2-3, 3.15 ERA) facing Phillies lefty Ranger Suarez (1-0, 5.91) at Citizens Bank Park at 6:45 p.m. ET.

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