Pittsburgh @ New York preview

Last Meeting ( Jun 8, 2016 ) NY Mets 6, Pittsburgh 5

The Pittsburgh Pirates have not won a game since opening last week with a doubleheader sweep of the New York Mets at home. The Pirates will try to end their five-game slide when they begin a tough six-game road trip with the first of three against the Mets on Tuesday.

Pittsburgh began a stretch of six straight series against teams with winning records by losing three in a row at home to the St. Louis Cardinals over the weekend and will travel to face the major league-leading Chicago Cubs starting on Friday before heading home to host a pair of National League West contenders -- Los Angeles and San Francisco. The Pirates are surrendering an average of 7.8 runs during the five-game losing streak and managed only seven runs of their own over the weekend against St. Louis. The Mets wrapped up a 5-5 road trip with a pair of losses at Milwaukee and share Pittsburgh’s trouble scoring runs. Injuries to regulars David Wright and Lucas Duda are creating constant change in the middle of the lineup, and recent acquisitions Kelly Johnson and James Loney were occupying the Nos. 4 and 5 spots in the order in Sunday's 5-3 loss.

TV: 7:10 p.m. ET, ROOT (Pittsburgh), SNY (New York)

PITCHING MATCHUP: Pirates RH Juan Nicasio (5-5, 5.34 ERA) vs. Mets RH Jacob deGrom (3-2, 2.80)

Nicasio is the most likely candidate to get the ball on Tuesday but the Pittsburgh rotation is in a bit of a holding pattern with ace Gerrit Cole dealing with tightness in his triceps. The 29-year-old Dominican came on in relief in the 12th inning on Friday against the Cardinals and was ripped for six runs in the single frame to suffer the loss. Nicasio made his last start against the Mets on June 7 and earned the win by allowing one run on three hits while striking out seven in five innings.

DeGrom went up against Nicasio in that June 7 meeting and absorbed the loss despite yielding only three runs in six innings while striking out nine. The Stetson product recorded 19 strikeouts in 13 innings over his last two outings while walking two. DeGrom has yet to earn a win against the Pirates in his career, owning a 0-1 mark with a 2.33 ERA in three chances.

WALK-OFFS

1. Mets manager Terry Collins did not make the trip back with the team on Sunday and remained hospitalized in Milwaukee after feeling ill prior to the series finale.

2. Pittsburgh LF Starling Marte is 8-for-16 over his last four games to lift his batting average to .332.

3. Mets LF Michael Conforto (wrist) was limited to pinch hitting on Sunday and will be further examined in New York.

PREDICTION: Mets 5, Pirates 3