NEW YORK: The Mets have won 14 of 16 against the National League Central and are 23-4 in their last 27 games played on Monday.
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The Pirates have lost seven of their last nine games overall but have won seven in a row against the Mets, dating to 2014.
This is the Mets’ only visit to Pittsburgh this season. NY is averaging just 2.6 runs in the past eight games while scoring just eight times in the five losses over that span.
But it proved to be the Mets’ lone run of the game, as Pirates closer Mark Melancon worked a scoreless ninth to secure the win.
Curtis Granderson accounted for the Mets’ run with a leadoff homer in the eighth, his 10th, off Neftali Feliz.
Catcher Francisco Cervelli (bruised right foot) was scheduled to return to the lineup after missing three games in a row. RHP Ryan Vogelsong rejoined the team a week after undergoing surgery to fix facial fractures sustained May 23 when hit by a pitch by Colorado’s Jordan Lyles.
With that the news, both teams will presumably stick to the starting pitchers they had planned on using coming into the series.
Mets RHP Logan Verrett is tentatively slated to make a spot start Saturday night at Milwaukee. But Tuesday afternoon, the other piece of that deal – veteran left-hander Jon Niese – stole the show, tossing seven scoreless innings to lead the Pirates to a 3-1 win in Game 1 of a traditional doubleheader at PNC Park.
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They’ll play two … on short notice. That’d leave the Mets’ starters for the series as Steven Matz, Jacob deGrom, and Noah Syndergaard. Niese got off to a rough start but is settling in nicely with his new team and allowed two runs or fewer in each of his last four outings.
