NEW YORK — A second straight win, a wish fulfilled, a team that looks to be discovering itself again.
All of those things were on display at Citi Field on Friday night. The Mets took care of the Pirates, 4-3, after knocking them around on Thursday. They answered their fans’ pleas for good, normal baseball after getting surprisingly swept by the Cubs earlier in the week and they did many of the things that made them so hard to beat all season.
The Mets got at least seven innings from Taijuan Walker for his second consecutive start. Amid a troubling second half (which was something that Walker dealt with in 2021 as well), many wondered if games against the Marlins and Pirates would straighten him out. With 10 strikeouts over his seven innings in Miami, then two earned runs in his 7 1/3 against the Pirates, Walker has answered that question.