On the day trumpeted as Neil Walker’s return to Pittsburgh, when doubleheader crowds saluted the New York Mets second baseman with two standing ovations, Jon Niese — the other half of the Dec. 9 trade who now wears the Pirates jersey numbered 18 — rained on the homecoming parade.
Niese, a lefthander, tossed seven scoreless innings to steer the Pirates in the first game of a doubleheader they swept, 3-1 and 3-1. Niese’s sixth win this season marked his sixth consecutive strong start, a stretch in which he has had a 2.15 ERA. To win his first game against the Mets, the team that drafted and developed him, was special.