Oneil Cruz homers twice as Pirates beat Mets 12-1 to complete a 3-game series sweep

PITTSBURGH (AP) – Oneil Cruz hit a pair of two-run homers, Tommy Pham and Bryan Reynolds also went deep and the Pittsburgh Pirates beat the New York Mets 12-1 on Sunday to complete a three-game sweep.

Cruz ended a 14-game homerless drought and highlighted a five-run outburst off Frankie Montas (0-1) in the first inning. After strikeouts in his next two at-bats, Cruz hit his team-leading 15th homer in the seventh inning to extend the Pirates’ lead to nine runs.

Pittsburgh added two more runs in the eighth inning and sent the Mets, who held a players only meeting after a 9-2 loss on Saturday, to their 13th setback in 16 games.

The Pirates scored all of their runs in the first inning with two outs. Ke’Bryan Hayes started with a two-run single, the first of his three hits. Cruz and Pham (two RBIs) followed with consecutive homers to right.

Montas lasted four innings, allowing six runs on seven hits.

Carmen Mlodzinski (2-5) allowed two hits in the final 3 2/3 innings, earning the win. Pirates starter Mike Burrows gave up one run and struck out five in 4 1/3 innings.

Pittsburgh catcher Henry Davis went 4 for 4. Reynolds hit his 10th homer of the season.

Luis Torrens put New York on the board with a home run off Burrows in the fifth.

Pittsburgh nearly came up empty in the first when Hayes passed on a sweeper over the heart of the plate to fall behind 1-2 in the count. After looking at a slider in the dirt, he sent the next pitch into center for two runs before Cruz and Pham broke the game open.

The Mets were outscored 30-4 in the series. The Pirates, who entered Sunday with the lowest run total in the National League (285), have scored 48 runs in their last seven games and scored at least nine in three straight games for the first time since Aug. 29-31, 2019, at Colorado.

Mets RHP Clay Holmes (8-4, 2.97 ERA) will start Tuesday in the opener of a three-game home series against the Brewers. RHP Freddy Peralta (8-4, 2.90 ERA) is scheduled for Milwaukee.

Pirates LHP Andrew Heaney (3-7, 4.48 ERA) opens the first of a three-game set against the Cardinals on Monday. RHP Erick Fedde (3-7, 4.11 ERA) will go for St. Louis.