NEW YORK -- The search for consistent footing in August continues for the Pirates. They entered Citi Field on Wednesday afternoon with an opportunity to win their first series of the month after eking out a gritty (and somewhat odd) victory the previous night to even the three-game set.

However, the matinee turned into a bit of a horror show for Pittsburgh, which fell behind after a three-run second inning by the Mets and spent the rest of the game trying to crawl back in vain. The last hurrah for the Pirates came in the sixth inning, when Alika Williams sliced an RBI bloop single down the right-field line, cutting their deficit to 6-3. But a pitching staff snake-bitten by control issues and the gopher ball made for a difficult afternoon for Pittsburgh.

More from the Pirates’ 8-3 loss in the series finale:

Execution is key
While the Pirates’ hitters spent much of the series waiting out the Mets and stringing together long at-bats (they saw 540 pitches over the three games), Pittsburgh received a taste of its own medicine on Wednesday. The Bucs’ four pitchers -- Johan Oviedo, Ryan Borucki, Jose Hernandez and Yohan Ramirez -- walked eight over eight innings, outpacing their earned run total (seven) for the game.

“I think that was the overall theme of the day,” said manager Derek Shelton. “We just didn’t throw enough strikes. … We saw a lot of pitches, too, there were a lot of pitches thrown in this series. But when you don’t command the ball in the zone, that’s where the challenges come into play.”

The pitcher most afflicted by inconsistency was Oviedo, who lasted just four-plus innings: He allowed four runs on five hits and five walks while striking out three. His toughest stretch came in the second frame. After DJ Stewart homered and Omar Narváez doubled with one out, Oviedo sandwiched a strikeout between two free passes, loading the bases for Francisco Lindor.

Lindor roped a two-run single to left field to punctuate a three-run inning for the Mets, giving them a lead they wouldn’t relinquish.

“Keeping my fastball in the strike zone,” said Oviedo, speaking to the biggest challenge he felt. Out of the 39 four-seam fastballs he threw, only four were called strikes. “That was a pitch I couldn’t throw for a strike; it was bad today.

“Definitely, you want to make really good pitches so you can have soft contact or swings and misses. Lindor put a good swing on a good fastball, and you just have to tip the cap.”

Hayes leads from the front
Ke'Bryan Hayes led off for the second consecutive game, and he rewarded his manager with another outstanding performance. He logged his third mulitihit performance of the series, spraying the ball all over the field. He owned two of the top five exit velocities, with twin 106.3 mph drives on his first two at-bats of the game. Hayes is now hitting .429 (15-for-35) over his past eight starts.

“We’re seeing the ball get elevated to all fields -- which is really important,” Shelton said. “And he’s swung about as good as he could over the last 10 days.”

Hayes, who just missed a clutch homer in both the sixth and ninth innings, has settled in nicely when called upon to hit from the leadoff spot. It remains to be seen where his final landing spot in the lineup will be. It seems Shelton has just one main concern on where to slot Hayes’ name in the lineup.

“We’ll continue to mix and match,” Shelton said. “He’s done a nice job at the top, and he’s swinging the bat well, so getting him that extra at-bat in the game is important.”

Reynolds remains en fuego
Bryan Reynolds provided the majority of the Bucs’ runs with a two-run blast in the third inning, bringing Pittsburgh back into the game with one swing. He muscled an 0-2 fastball a Statcast-projected 376 feet to left-center field for his 18th homer of the year. It was also his ninth homer since July 23, trailing only the Braves’ Matt Olson and the Mets’ Pete Alonso for the most in the Majors in that span.

“I mean, driving that ball out to left-center on an 0-2 count, just overall good swings,” Shelton said. “At the top of the order, Key and Bryan really had good at-bats throughout the entire series.”