Reeling Pirates drop their 14th in 16 games

Associated Press

NEW YORK

Jason Vargas was reading in front of his locker in a corner of the Mets clubhouse Sunday morning while Noah Syndergaard and Zack Wheeler were relaxing on opposite sides of the new pingpong table in the center of the room.

Whether the three pitchers will be back when the team returns from a road trip Aug. 5 remains uncertain.

What does seem likely is Marcus Stroman will be in the rotation.

New York has given general manager Brodie Van Wagenen reason to push for success in 2019 rather than just reorient for the future.

An 8-7 win Sunday over the reeling Pittsburgh Pirates improved the Mets to 10-5 since the All-Star break, and they were close to completing a trade to acquire Stroman from Toronto for a pair of pitching prospects.

Pittsburgh was 21/2 games off the NL Central lead at the break but has lost 14 of 16, including eight in a row.

The Pirates are 46-59, the next-to-worst record in the NL.

“They’re fighting. We’re not winning, but we’re fighting,” manager Clint Hurdle said.

New York led 8-3 in the ninth before Bryan Reynolds had a two-run homer off Tyler Bashlor and Jose Osuna hit a two-run drive against Edwin Diaz, who got the next two outs for his 23rd save in 27 chances.

Archer (3-8) was torched for six runs in the first inning. He allowed five hits and four walks in five innings, raising his ERA to 5.58. He is 0-3 in his last nine starts, 0-4 on the road this season and has allowed 25 home runs, second in the major leagues to 28 off Houston ace Justin Verlander.

Archer is 28-47 since the start of 2016 after going 32-32 in his first four seasons.

He threw 48 pitches in the first, falling behind when Conforto hit an opposite-field drive to left. Todd Frazier, J.D. Davis and Amed Rosario had RBI singles, and Aaron Altherr added a sacrifice fly. The inning was prolonged when third baseman Jung Ho Kang failed to catch Archer’s throw on a bunt.

“I just came out extremely passive, wasn’t pitching like myself,” Archer said. “My stuff was flat, but it wasn’t a matter of my delivery. It was a matter of my mentality. Unacceptable.”

At 50-55, the Mets have passed Cincinnati, Colorado, Pittsburgh and San Diego in the standings and with just over one-third of the season remaining are six games back for the two NL wild-card spots with six teams in front.