The Mets opened up a can of whoop-ass on the Pittsburgh Pirates at Citi Field on Friday. Taijuan Walker took the mound and unfortunately, was not the winning pitcher.

While the Mets would end up beating the Pirates, 13-4, the offense didn’t cement the lead until the bottom of the sixth. That would be a full inning after Walker’s departure.

The Shreveport, Louisiana Native ended up throwing five innings, giving up two earned runs on four hits and three walks.

Jonathan Villar put the Mets on the board first as he laced a solo shot to lead off the bottom of the third. The home run would tie the game 1-1 and counts as Villar’s seventh home run of 2021.

Brandon Nimmo soon after put the Mets up by lining a double in the right-center field gap, plating across catcher James McCann.

Later in the fifth, after Brandon Nimmo and Francisco Lindor set the table for Dom Smith, Smith would take advantage by pushing across Nimmo with an RBI single.

Star slugger Pete Alonso immediately followed with a low line drive that was tall enough to clear the centerfield wall. The Mets first baseman now has 16 home runs on the campaign after Friday’s three run shot, putting the team up over the Pirates, 6-2.

After Pirates pitching forced in two runs on a hit by pitch and walk, Francisco Lindor hit a grand slam, giving the Mets the 12-2 lead.

Jonathan Villar would continue to be a solid acquisition as he would hit his second home run of the evening, this one, his 8th, coming in the seventh.

Aaron Loup would be the Mets pitcher of record, logging in his third victory of the campaign.