Skenes threw 37 pitches in two-thirds of an inning — four hits, five earned runs, two walks — and the line will read as a disaster, though Brett Baty's three-run triple to center on an 89.5 mph changeup was the swing that made it definitive. Brandon Lowe hit his second home run of the year in the third to pull Pittsburgh within four, but Freddy Peralta struck out seven over five innings and the Mets kept scoring in every other frame. The Pirates left three on base across nine innings and still lost by four.