It took one defeat for the questions for the Mets to begin.
There were questions concerning why Richard Lovelady — the whimsically named last man to crack the Opening Day bullpen — was pitching in a tie game in extra innings for a second straight day.
There were questions why Francisco Lindor was waved home, an aggressive send from third-base coach Tim Leiper, with no outs as the potential tying run was gunned down.
In the third game of the season, the Mets encountered their first setback with a 4-3, 10-inning loss to the Pirates that meant their first series victory of the season was not a sweep.
The winning runs arrived in the 10th with Lovelady, who had pitched Saturday, too, on the mound. Lovelady followed Huascar Brazobán, Sean Manaea (who gritted through 1 ⅓ innings) and Luke Weaver, a trio who had covered four scoreless innings. Unused were closer Devin Williams, who had thrown 19 pitches Saturday, Brooks Raley (11 pitches Saturday) and Luis García (19).
If Lovelady were tired, he showed it as a Ryan O’Hearn single created the Pirates’ lead and a Henry Davis RBI single created a cushion.
That cushion was needed.
In the bottom of the inning, Lindor drew a leadoff walk before Soto drilled an opposite-field double that one-hopped the wall in left-center. But a strong Pirates relay cut down Lindor at the plate in plenty of time,
Leiper showed aggression despite Bo Bichette ready to step up without an out and runners on second and third. Soto would be stranded to disappoint the 36,940 who showed up on a chilly but sunny day.
A day that began as McLean Day — Nolan’s season debut after so captivating the fan base last season — got off to a strange start.
Of the electric righty’s first eight pitches, seven were balls. He walked the first two batters he faced, needed 15 pitches to record his first out and allowed a run on an O’Hearn RBI single. When he finally escaped, he had expended 24 pitches.
If there were jitters, they were gone by the second inning, when McLean settled in and looked more like the star he could grow into.
In five innings, McLean allowed two runs — the other on Brandon Lowe’s third homer of the season, which came in the third inning — on four hits, two walks and eight strikeouts.
The Pirates put two on base in the third, but McLean needed three pitches to strike out Spencer Horwits. In the fifth, Lowe looped a one-out double down the left-field line and was stranded on second because McLean received a generous call to strike out Bryan Reynolds — who strangely did not challenge a pitch several inches outside — and then turned to a nasty curveball to sit down O’Hearn, McLean strutting and roaring to the dugout.
