New York Mets (85-50, first in the NL East) vs. Pittsburgh Pirates (49-84, fifth in the NL Central)
Pittsburgh; Monday, 12:35 p.m. EDT
PITCHING PROBABLES: Mets: Taijuan Walker (10-3, 3.45 ERA, 1.22 WHIP, 93 strikeouts); Pirates: Mitch Keller (4-10, 4.43 ERA, 1.46 WHIP, 107 strikeouts)
FANDUEL SPORTSBOOK LINE: Mets -216, Pirates +179; over/under is 8 1/2 runs
BOTTOM LINE: The Pittsburgh Pirates aim to end their four-game slide when they take on the New York Mets.
Pittsburgh has a 26-39 record at home and a 49-84 record overall. The Pirates are 33-11 in games when they scored at least five runs.
New York is 85-50 overall and 39-27 on the road. The Mets have the seventh-best team batting average in MLB play at .256.
Monday's game is the first time these teams meet this season.
TOP PERFORMERS: Bryan Reynolds has 14 doubles, four triples and 21 home runs while hitting .251 for the Pirates. Rodolfo Castro is 7-for-29 with two home runs over the past 10 games.
Pete Alonso leads the Mets with 55 extra base hits (23 doubles and 32 home runs). Starling Marte is 9-for-35 with a double, a triple, two home runs and seven RBI over the past 10 games.
LAST 10 GAMES: Pirates: 2-8, .207 batting average, 4.60 ERA, outscored by 29 runs
Mets: 6-4, .230 batting average, 2.80 ERA, outscored by one run
INJURIES: Pirates: Colin Holderman: 60-Day IL (shoulder), Ke'Bryan Hayes: day-to-day (shoulder), Yerry De Los Santos: 60-Day IL (lat), David Bednar: 15-Day IL (back), Dillon Peters: 15-Day IL (elbow), 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)
Mets: Max Scherzer: day-to-day (side), Trevor May: 15-Day IL (undisclosed), Brett Baty: 10-Day IL (thumb), Stephen Nogosek: 15-Day IL (oblique), Luis Guillorme: 10-Day IL (groin), 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)
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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.
