Luis Robert Jr. stepped to the plate in the bottom of the 11th inning, looked at a full count with 2 runners on base, and hit a 3-run homer to left-center that ended everything. The NY Mets beat the Pittsburgh Pirates 4-2 in 11 innings Saturday at Citi Field, their first walkoff win of 2026 and a statement about the kind of resilience this team can play with when the offense goes quiet.
It was not a pretty game. The Mets managed just 6 hits over 11 innings against Mitch Keller and a Pittsburgh bullpen that held the lead twice in extra frames. Francisco Lindor went 0-for-5 with a strikeout. Juan Soto went 1-for-5 with a single in the 6th. The lineup, outside of a few flashes, gave the Pittsburgh staff everything it wanted — until the 10th inning changed the energy, and the 11th inning changed the game.
The Mets Fought Back Twice Before Robert Ended It
Credit: Gregory Fisher-Imagn Images
Pittsburgh drew first blood in the 10th when Nick Gonzales singled home Bryan Reynolds, who had started the inning at second under ghost runner rules. Down 1-0 heading to the bottom of the 10th, the Mets got Brett Baty — their ghost runner — to third on a Mark Vientos pinch-hit single, then tied it on a Luis Torrens line drive to left that sent Baty home. What followed was a sequence of hard luck: Francisco Lindor grounded into a force that erased Marcus Semien at home after a challenge upheld the call, then Juan Soto did the same, with Hunter Barco’s barehanded flip to the plate stranding Jared Young. Bo Bichette flied out to end the inning tied at 1.
The 11th played out fast. Bichette started at second. Jorge Polanco worked a walk. Then Luis Robert Jr., who launched a 3-run homer to left-center that cleared the bases and ended the game.
Peterson Held It Together in the Early Going
David Peterson gave the Mets exactly what they needed on a day when the offense needed time to wake up. He worked 5.1 innings, allowed 6 hits and 2 walks, and gave up 0 runs. He stranded a 2-on, 2-out jam in the 5th and left the game with the Mets still in a scoreless tie. Devin Williams entered in the 9th and worked around a 1-out double and a 2-out walk to escape with a strikeout of Bryan Reynolds.
Robert Jr. also drove in 3 of the Mets’ 4 runs on the day and finished 1-for-4 with a walk. Luis Torrens, in 1 plate appearance off the bench, delivered the tying hit. Mark Vientos, also pinch-hitting, moved the ghost runner with the single that set everything up. The win came from the bottom of the roster, as the Mets improve to 2-0 on the season.