Wright earned his “Captain America” moniker partly because of his performance in previous WBCs. His heroics against Team Puerto Rico in 2009, when he delivered a walk-off single to help Team USA stave off elimination. In the next tournament, in 2013, he drove in 10 runs before suffering an injury that took him out of the WBC.

Brett Baty didn’t have to be here. Under different circumstances, he certainly would not be. Late last month, the Mets demoted Baty to Triple-A Syracuse, in a move that was largely based on merit. The team had a roster crunch.

The Mets scored in the first off of a run kind of manufactured by Juan Soto. Soto singled with one out, stole second, and was chased home by a Brandon Nimmo double. That 1-0 lead would hold all the way until the sixth, with Keller dominating and Senga wriggling out of trouble. He stopped being able to wriggle in the sixth, though.

Pittsburgh Pirates ace Paul Skenes didn't mince words when speaking about the New York Mets' trio of superstars in their lineup.

Brett Baty hit a tiebreaking homer in the seventh inning and the New York Mets held off the punchless Pittsburgh Pirates 2-1.

Preview the May 14 matchup between the New York Mets and Pittsburgh Pirates with odds over/under, game spread, betting lines and more.

Often for the Mets, the first six innings of a game tend not to matter. It’s not as if the Mets are bad early in games. (They’re not.) It’s just that from the seventh inning onward, they turn into a juggernaut.

With the New York Mets, New York Yankees and Philadelphia Phillies each logging a pair of series wins last week, the top-tier of MLB teams has become increasingly crowded with no clear-cut No. 1 team in baseball right now.

Mark Vientos had a week’s worth of adventures at third base in the first six innings of the Mets' win over the Pittsburgh Pirates on Tuesday night at Citi Field.