PITTSBURGH — Paul Skenes threw seven strong innings and the Pittsburgh Pirates tied a franchise record by smashing seven home runs in a 14-2 demolition of the New York Mets on Friday night.

Bryan Reynolds homered from both sides of the plate, including a grand slam, and Rowdy Tellez had a grand slam among his two homers.

Skenes (5-0), a 22-year-old rookie, allowed two runs on four hits with a walk and eight strikeouts while his ERA ticked up slightly to 2.12.

The mustachioed right-hander has struck out seven or more batters in nine of his first 10 starts, the most ever by a pitcher over the first 10 games of his career. Skenes has thrown 74 pitches of at least 100 mph this season, more than double anyone else in the majors.

Yet Skenes didn’t just beat the Mets with his heat. The last of his 107 pitches was an 87 mph slider that Harrison Bader whiffed at, bringing just the second sellout crowd of the season at PNC Park to its feet as the 6-foot-6 top overall pick in the 2023 draft made his way to the dugout.

Pittsburgh’s struggling offense — as it seems to do frequently when Skenes is starting — provided plenty of cushion.

Reynolds had four of Pittsburgh’s season high-tying 16 hits. He hit a two-run homer from the left side off Luis Severino (5-3) in the fifth inning to put Pittsburgh in front. His grand slam — from the right side — came against reliever Jake Diekman in the seventh.

Tellez hit his grand slam during a six-run eighth that ended with New York catcher/designated hitter Luis Torrens getting the final out. The Mets tied a club record for home runs allowed in a game.

Michael A. Taylor had four hits, including a homer. Jack Suwinski and Yasmani Grandal also went deep for the Pirates, who have struggled to generate offense much of the season, the main reason Pittsburgh is below .500 (42-45) despite a starting rotation that has the lowest ERA in the National League since June 1.

Jeff McNeil hit his fifth home run for New York. Pete Alonso added two hits for the Mets, who have dropped three straight and five of seven while playing without closer Edwin Diaz. He will return on Saturday from a 10-game suspension for having a banned substance on his pitching hand late last month.

Skenes wasn’t particularly sharp early but retired 11 of his final 12 batters to bolster his chances of making the National League All-Star team when pitchers and reserves are named this weekend.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Mets: C Francisco Alvarez was hit on the left elbow by a 99 mph fastball from Skenes in the fourth inning. Alvarez was tended to by trainers for several minutes but remained in the game.

Pirates: The Pittsburgh Pirates are shutting down rookie right-hander Jared Jones for at least two weeks while he deals with a right lat strain.

The team placed the 22-year-old Jones on the 15-day injured list on Thursday after he exited his start against St. Louis after five innings a day earlier with discomfort in his right side.

Pittsburgh manager Derek Shelton said Friday that Jones has a grade 2 strain and will be re-evaluated after his two-week break. Jones was already expected to be out until after the All-Star break. The team gave no timetable for his return.

The Pirates have attempted to play it safe with Jones, who is 5-6 with a 3.56 ERA in 16 starts. They let him skip a turn in the rotation during a trip through Cincinnati and Atlanta. He pitched one simulated game during that downtime.

Shelton doesn’t believe the break had anything to do with the injury but is unsure if it can be connected to Jones’ overall workload. Jones has thrown 91 innings this season and was on pace to blow past his totals in the minor leagues, where he threw 122 2/3 innings in 2022 and 126 1/3 innings last year.

“To say that this happened because of certain usage, I don’t think we can say that,” Shelton said. “I don’t think we cannot say that. If we had it figured out, that this is the perfect scenario to use every single guy, then we would do that and there would not be pitching injuries.”

The setback comes at a time when the Pirates are trying to stay in the National League playoff picture. Pittsburgh entered play on Friday at 41-45, four games back of St. Louis for the third and final wild-card spot.

Pitching has kept the Pirates competitive despite an offense that ranks near the bottom of the majors in most categories.

Pittsburgh isn’t sure how it will fill Jones’ spot in the rotation, though starters Quinn Priester and Marco Gonzalez are currently on rehab stints in the minors and Luis Ortiz has been effective in long relief and as a spot starter.

“You would never say (you’re comfortable) because you can never have enough starting pitching but the fact that we have some depth, I think, is important,” Shelton said. … C Henry Davis (concussion) had no issues during his first minor league rehab start with Triple-A Indianapolis on Thursday.

UP NEXT

The four-game series continues on Saturday. Left-hander David Peterson (3-0, 3.51 ERA) gets the start for New York. Bailey Falter (4-6, 3.87), who has just one victory in the last six weeks, gets the nod for the Pirates.