Pittsburgh Pirates (55-89, fifth in the NL Central) vs. New York Mets (90-55, first in the NL East)
New York; Friday, 7:10 p.m. EDT
PITCHING PROBABLES: Pirates: Mitch Keller (5-10, 4.01 ERA, 1.41 WHIP, 115 strikeouts); Mets: Taijuan Walker (11-4, 3.48 ERA, 1.20 WHIP, 106 strikeouts)
FANDUEL SPORTSBOOK LINE: Mets -264, Pirates +215; over/under is 7 1/2 runs
BOTTOM LINE: The New York Mets bring a 1-0 lead into the next game of the series against the Pittsburgh Pirates.
New York has gone 47-26 in home games and 90-55 overall. Mets pitchers have a collective 3.54 ERA, which ranks third in the NL.
Pittsburgh is 55-89 overall and 27-46 on the road. The Pirates are ninth in the NL with 145 total home runs, averaging 1.0 per game.
The matchup Friday is the fifth time these teams match up this season. The Mets have a 3-1 advantage in the season series.
TOP PERFORMERS: Brandon Nimmo has 28 doubles, six triples, 14 home runs and 53 RBI for the Mets. Eduardo Escobar is 16-for-41 with a double, a triple and three home runs over the last 10 games.
Bryan Reynolds leads the Pirates with a .259 batting average, and has 15 doubles, four triples, 23 home runs, 50 walks and 54 RBI. Oneil Cruz is 10-for-38 with two home runs and seven RBI over the last 10 games.
LAST 10 GAMES: Mets: 5-5, .287 batting average, 3.78 ERA, outscored opponents by 16 runs
Pirates: 5-5, .248 batting average, 4.35 ERA, outscored by two runs
INJURIES: Mets: Bryce Montes de Oca: 15-Day IL (hamstring), Starling Marte: 10-Day IL (hand), Max Scherzer: 15-Day IL (side), Brett Baty: 10-Day IL (thumb), Stephen Nogosek: 15-Day IL (oblique), Drew Smith: 15-Day IL (back), Tylor Megill: 60-Day IL (shoulder), Sean Reid-Foley: 60-Day IL (elbow), John Curtiss: 60-Day IL (elbow), Joey Lucchesi: 60-Day IL (elbow)
Pirates: JT Brubaker: day-to-day (lat), Kevin Newman: day-to-day (undisclosed), Colin Holderman: 60-Day IL (shoulder), Yerry De Los Santos: 60-Day IL (lat), David Bednar: 15-Day IL (back), Max Kranick: 60-Day IL (elbow), Canaan Smith-Njigba: 60-Day IL (wrist), Roberto Perez: 60-Day IL (hamstring), Blake Cederlind: 60-Day IL (elbow)
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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.
