Mets' broadcast blasts Henry Davis after Pirates catcher rolled out the welcome mat

In the bottom of the seventh in their series opener against the Mets, the Pirates looked like they were getting ready to spoil another great start from Paul Skenes. He'd exited after six solid innings, only giving up one run on a Jeff McNeil double while Pittsburgh's offense struggled against David Peterson. Isiah Kiner-Falefa hit his first homer of the season in the top of the second, but otherwise the bats were quiet. Ultimately, it was a moment with the glove of Henry Davis that came to define this game.

Bryan Reynolds tacked on one more run in the top of the seventh on an RBI groundout, but that was far from reassuring when the Mets currently have the second-best record in baseball.

Juan Soto saw what Reynolds did and said "I can do that, too" when it was the Mets' turn, and he promptly tied the game on a groundout and got rookie Luisangel Acuña to second to ruin the Pirates' lead. Pete Alonso (we'll come back to him later) singled, and the speedy Acuña capitalized on a botched play by Ke'Bryan Hayes. After a quick glance behind him, he turned on the burners and charged toward home as the throw came in.

Davis dropped a knee behind the plate and caught the ball, but Acuña's hand was sliding in before he could apply the tag. The Pirates challenged, hoping to get out of the inning with the game tied, but the call on the field stood.

Mets color commentator Ron Darling criticized Davis' set-up, saying, "That was a bad choice. [...] If he takes the throw in front of the plate, he's taking the throw 3-4 feet in front of that. In a bang-bang play, that's everything."

Play-by-play announcer Gary Cohen intoned in agreement, "Ball gets there faster."

Mets broadcaster Ron Darling actually made a fair point about Henry Davis' failure to stop NY's go-ahead run vs. Pirates on Monday

The call on the field was the right call. It might've been close, but Davis (who had a lot of time to prepare for the throw) easily could've set up a few feet forward while not impeding the runner's path to the bag. It gave the Mets a 3-2 lead.

Pittsburgh briefly hit back in the top of the ninth. Acuña himself boggled a Hayes infield grounder at third, which brought Ji Hwan Bae around to score and Hayes was safe at first after a call on the field was overturned. If only the bullpen could hold down the fort and send the game to extra innings.

But David Bednar's mere presence on the mound has become more than enough reason to set Pirates fans on edge, and the defense wasn't any help. Kiner-Falefa allowed Francisco Lindor to reach first on an error, Soto singled to put runners on the corner, and then Alonso got to play the hero. He hit a middle-in fastball deep enough to right field that Lindor scored easily as the Mets walked it off.

If only Davis hadn't set up behind the plate.