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PITTSBURGH (AP) — Tyler Naquin and Eduardo Escobar hit back-to-back home runs in the fourth inning, and the New York Mets beat the Pittsburgh Pirates 5-1 in the first game of a split doubleheader on Wednesday.

The Mets moved a half-game back in front of Atlanta for first place in the NL East by relying on the mix of power and pitching that has kept them atop the division since early April.

Chris Bassitt (13-7) struck out 10 in seven innings, helping New York avoid its first four-game skid of the season. Bassitt’s 13 victories are a career best, topping the 12 games he won while pitching for Oakland in 2021.

And while the Braves have steadily chipped away at New York's lead in the East — which grew to as much as 10 1/2 games at one point — Bassitt insisted the Mets aren't panicked by the push from the reigning World Series champions.

“I’m sure that the world was going crazy, but, I mean, we’re fine,” Bassitt said.

New York ace Jacob deGrom (4-1) is scheduled to start the second game of the doubleheader against Pittsburgh's Johan Oviedo (2-1).

Naquin hit a three-run shot to the bullpen beyond the center-field fence for his 11th homer of the season. Escobar followed with a high drive to the seats above the 21-foot high Clemente Wall in right field that staked the Mets to a 5-0 lead.

“I think it’s a reminder of what he’s capable of doing,” New York manager Buck Showalter said of Escobar, who has three home runs in his last five games and is a career .410 hitter (34 of 83) against Pittsburgh.

Naquin, Escobar, Pete Alonso and Brandon Nimmo had two hits each for New York, which scored more runs in the first four innings than it managed during a three-game skid against Washington and Pittsburgh.

Nimmo led off the game against opener Duane Underwood Jr. (1-6) with an infield...

NEW YORK (AP) — Timmy Trumpet was all set to horn in on this most notable season for the New York Mets.

The Australian-born musician was at Citi Field with trumpet in hand Tuesday night, ready if needed to pop onto the diamond and blare his song “Narco” live if Mets closer Edwin Díaz emerged from the bullpen.

Díaz never got into the game as the Dodgers won 4-3 in a matchup of NL division leaders. Instead, Mets fans had to be content to sing along as Trumpet played a more muted version of “Take Me Out to the Ball Game” from just outside the Los Angeles dugout during the seventh-inning stretch.

But minutes after attending his first major league game, Trumpet tweeted he'd back Wednesday night, hoping again to play Díaz's wildly popular entrance song in person when the Mets hosted the Dodgers.

“SEE YOU TOMORROW FOR ROUND 2 NYC,” he posted. “We got this!!”

Hours before Tuesday night's game, Trumpet put the instrument to his lips and blasted the instantly recognizable first notes of “Narco.”

A blown song, not a blown save, in the mostly empty ballpark.

“It’s actually really cool to be in a stadium where you can hear it echoing around like that. I’ve never been in a stadium this big before," he said.

Born Timothy Smith, he became fast friends with Díaz earlier this season after Trumpet reached out to the pitcher when the song went viral.

With the crowd applauding Tuesday, the 40-year-old musician put on a jersey with Díaz's No. 39 and the name Trumpet on the back and threw out the first ball, an arcing toss to Mets outfielder Tyler Naquin that barely reached the plate.

“I hope I come into the game tonight,” Díaz, wearing a shirt with a blue-and-orange “Edwin” pictured above a trumpet, said before the first pitch. “Because...

NEW YORK (AP) — Timmy Trumpet is hoping to horn in on this most notable season for the New York Mets.

The Australian-born musician was at Citi Field with trumpet in hand Tuesday night, ready if needed to pop onto the diamond and perform his song “Narco” live if Mets closer Edwin Díaz emerged from the bullpen.

“I guess I’ll be somewhere around here and I’ll probably just pull out the trumpet and then just play it,” he said, standing with Díaz next to the Mets dugout.

As if anyone needed a reminder a couple hours before the Mets hosted the Los Angeles Dodgers in a matchup of NL division leaders, Trumpet put the instrument to his lips and blared the instantly recognizable first notes of Díaz's wildly popular entrance song.

A blown song, not a blown save, in the mostly empty ballpark.

“It’s actually really cool to be in a stadium where you can hear it echoing around like that. I’ve never been in a stadium this big before," he said.

Born Timothy Smith, he became fast friends with Díaz earlier this season after Trumpet reached out to the pitcher when the song went viral.

With the crowd applauding Tuesday, the 40-year-old musician put on a jersey with Díaz's No. 39 and the name Trumpet on the back and threw out the first ball, an arcing toss to Mets outfielder Tyler Naquin that barely reached the plate.

“I hope I come into the game tonight,” said Díaz, wearing a shirt with a blue-and-orange “Edwin” pictured above a trumpet. “Because he’ll perform for me and the fan base.”

Díaz actually began using “Narco” — which Trumpet recorded with the Dutch DJ duo Blasterjaxx in 2017 — during his final season with the Seattle Mariners in 2018. He pivoted to “No Hay Limite” by Miky Woodz upon being traded to the Mets prior to the 2019...

NEW YORK (AP) — Deadline acquisition Tyler Naquin homered twice in his home debut, Edwin Diaz locked down his first two-inning save as a pro and the New York Mets beat the Atlanta Braves 6-4 Thursday night to open a pivotal five-game series between the NL East rivals.

Pete Alonso and Daniel Vogelbach hit back-to-back homers in the third for the Mets, who extended their lead over the Braves to 4 1/2 games. Alonso, who began the scoring with a single in the first, finished with three RBIs.

Carlos Carrasco (12-4) extended his scoreless streak to a career-high 23 1/3 innings before Michael Harris II laced a two-out, RBI single and Ronald Acuña Jr. followed with a two-run homer in the fifth.

Carrasco retired the final four batters he faced — No. 2 hitter Dansby Swanson to end the fifth, followed by Matt Olson, Austin Riley and Eddie Rosario — to allow Mets manager Buck Showalter to arrange his bullpen so that Diaz could get the final six outs.

“The last inning he pitched was probably the key inning,” Showalter said. “Set up the rest of the game for us by him being able to get those three guys out after giving up some runs.”

Harris had another RBI single in the seventh to bring up Acuña as the potential tying run, but Adam Ottavino struck out the 2018 Rookie of the Year.

Diaz entered in the eighth — though his trumpet-blaring warmup song, “Narco,” didn’t begin until he was already on the mound — and needed just 11 pitches to retire Swanson, Olson and Riley via a groundout and a pair of strikeouts.

“I was trying to run (to the mound) at the same pace of the song,” Diaz said with a laugh.

Rosario led off the ninth with a single and went to second on a wild pitch but was stranded there. Diaz fell behind Orlando Arcia 3-0 before getting him to hit a comebacker on a check...