The New York Mets (31-26) were swept in a doubleheader today by the Pittsburgh Pirates (32-26) with both games ending in the result of 3-1. The Mets have now dropped nine straight games to the Pirates and will look to avoid being swept by the Pirates tomorrow evening for the third series in a row. To say the Mets offense is struggling is an understatement as they have only scored two runs in their last 27 innings, while receiving excellent pitching over the last three games. While the Mets lineup is clearly not playing at full strength regular starters Michael Conforto, Curtis Granderson, and Yoenis Cespedes are all mired in slumps. The only good that came out of the batters box today was the heartfelt reception Neil Walker received by the Pittsburgh faithful in both contests.

This June is looking very reminiscent to last June when injuries took a toll and the Mets offense was stagnant for the entire month. Right now it’s tough to say there is a clear fix as it seems everyone in the lineup is just not producing to their capabilities. It is one thing to be completely dominated by Jose Fernandez, but it is totally different to be dominated by Jon Niese and a struggling Juan Nicasio in the same day.

Steven Matz seemed to dance in and out of trouble in game one of today’s doubleheader, but he pitched well enough to give his team a chance to win. Matz pitched five innings while only allowing two runs on eight hits with eight strikeouts. It was Matz’s first loss since his first start of the season back on April 11th. Jacob deGrom also had a solid outing in game two of the doubleheader going six innings while allowing three runs on six hits, with nine strikeouts. However given the Mets scoring issues, it was going to take a near-perfect outing from each pitcher to acquire a victory.

Hopefully the Mets are able to turn it around quickly, (as in tomorrow), as this series will undoubtedly leave a sour taste in their mouth if they are swept for the third straight time by the Pirates. The Mets will be facing Pirates prized young right-hander Jameson Taillon tomorrow night who will be making his major league debut. Taillon who is regarded as one of the best pitching prospects in baseball, was drafted between Bryce Harper and Manny Machado back in the 2010 MLB Draft. So what does all this mean? It means it doesn’t get any easier for the Mets offense tomorrow night. Noah Syndergaard will have to pitch a darn near perfect game if the Mets have any shot of winning tomorrow night with the offense’s recent struggles. But then again if the Mets can somehow get to Taillon early on as they did with the Dodgers Julio Urias a couple of weeks ago, they will have a shot to win.

Let’s get the offense rollin’ tomorrow and give Noah the damn ball!