Much like Sunday afternoon’s contest, a pitcher’s duel broke out in Flushing Monday evening, this time with Adrian Houser matching up with the Pirates’ Martin Perez. Both starters pitched around some trouble early, with Houser stranding two runners in both the second and third innings.
This time, the zeroes ceased in the sixth inning, with the Pirates breaking through for three runs in the top of the frame. Ke’Bryan Hayes led off with a walk, advanced to second on a force out, and game around to score on an Andrew McCutchen single. That ended Houser’s night, with Drew Smith coming on to surrender a walk, single, and sacrifice fly to put the Mets in a 3-0 hole.