New York Mets at Pittsburgh Pirates: Final Score & Recap

The New York Mets defeated the Pittsburgh Pirates 6-4 at PNC Park on August 7, 2026, overcoming a DiamondIQ model pre-game estimate that gave the home side a 59% chance of winning. New York scored five of its six runs across the first four innings, building a lead Pittsburgh could not fully erase despite late-inning pushback in the seventh and ninth.

The decisive sequence came in the top of the third inning against Pirates starter Carmen Mlodzinski. Carson Benge opened the damage with a single that shifted win probability 10.2 points in the Mets' favor, and Marcus Semien then drove a home run that swung the model's estimate an additional 20.3 points toward New York. Semien finished as the game's most impactful offensive player with a cumulative WPA of plus-23.5 and an RE24 of plus-2.1. The inning was not without cost for the Mets, as a Bo Bichette double play surrendered 10.8 points of win probability back to Pittsburgh, but the frame still represented the game's clearest turning point. The Pirates answered with two runs in the seventh, where Rafael Flores Jr. drew a walk off Jefry Yan that added 11.5 points to Pittsburgh's outlook, and two more in the ninth, with Bryan Reynolds grounding out against Devin Williams in a plate appearance that nonetheless trimmed the deficit in terms of win probability by 12.0 points.

On the mound, Zac Thornton was the Mets' most valuable contributor by pitching WPA, posting a plus-21.1 mark that reflected his ability to strand Pittsburgh's threats and preserve the lead through critical moments. Jefry Yan added plus-2.2 and Daniel Duarte plus-1.2 in support. Carson Benge and Rafael Flores Jr. supplemented Semien's offensive effort with WPA figures of plus-10.2 and plus-9.7, respectively, giving New York a well-distributed performance across its lineup and bullpen.