Semien's Three-Run Blast Buries Pittsburgh Before It Starts
Marcus Semien hit a three-run homer to left center in the third inning that swung Pittsburgh's win probability from 42% to 16% — a 26-point collapse in a single swing. New York walked out of Pittsburgh with a 6-4 final, and the game was effectively over before the fourth inning ended.
New York wasted no time. In the first, Carson Benge singled to center to score Ewing and put the Mets on the board at 1-0. The third inning is where Pittsburgh's night fell apart. Benge singled again — this time to right — to score Lindor and make it 2-0. Then Semien stepped in and launched one to left center, scoring both Benge and Young to push the lead to 5-0. That homer — the decisive blow — dropped Pittsburgh's win probability from 42% to 16%, a 26-point swing that effectively ended the competitive portion of the evening. Lindor added one more in the fourth, singling to center to score Ewing and set the final margin at 6-0 heading into the middle innings.
On the mound, Zac Thornton did his job without drama: 5.0 innings, 4 hits, 0 earned runs, 2 walks, and 3 strikeouts. Pittsburgh's Yohan Ramirez was actually sharper in his limited time — 3.1 innings, 1 hit, 0 earned runs, and 4 strikeouts — but the damage was done before he could settle in. Daniel Duarte came on in relief for New York and tossed a clean inning: 1.0 IP, 1 hit, 0 earned runs, 1 strikeout. The story of the night was New York's offense doing its damage early and the pitching staff protecting it without incident.
Pittsburgh made it cosmetically interesting late. Ronny Simon scored twice on the night, and Jared Triolo went 2-for-3 with an RBI, but the rally was too little and too staged. The Pirates pushed across two runs in the seventh — a Triolo single and a Mangum sacrifice fly — then added two more in the ninth on singles by Gonzalez and Lowe. But closing a six-run gap against a team that had already locked in its bullpen is a different ask entirely. The final was 6-4, and it looks like New York controlled this one from the jump. Benge finished 2-for-2 with 2 RBI, Ewing went 3-for-4 with 2 runs scored, and Semien's 3-RBI performance was the engine that made all of it possible.