While Andrew McCutchen remains one hit shy of a career milestone, Ke’Bryan Hayes matched his career bests as the Pittsburgh Pirates bounced back from two losses to the Oakland A’s by pounding the New York Mets.

Hayes went 5 for 5 with four RBIs as the Pirates collected 17 hits in a 14-7 win Friday night before 29,429 at PNC Park, their seventh time this season scoring double-digit runs.

“He was on time today, and he’s been on time for the last six or seven days,” Pirates manager Derek Shelton said of Hayes, who is batting .586 (17 for 29) with six extra-base hits and nine RBIs in seven games during the homestand. “I think it goes back to when you put in the work and you get yourself in a good spot, you’re going to have good ABs.”

Hayes, who also went 5 for 5 as a rookie in an 8-0 win at Cleveland on Sept. 26, 2020, had at least three hits for the second consecutive game and fourth time this month. He also tied his career best with four RBIs after accomplishing the feat in a 7-5 win over St. Louis on June 2.

Hayes said the Pirates wanted to be aggressive against Mets starter Tylor Megill, especially after learning the Mets had a tough trip and early morning arrival.

“Megill has really good stuff, so our plan was to really attack him early in the zone,” Hayes said. “We did a really good job at it. And I feel like Rich (Hill) did a really good job of attacking them as well. So any time you can be on offense longer than you’re on defense, you have a better chance.”

The Pirates got a quality start from Hill (6-5) as the left-hander struck out six while allowing seven hits and two walks in seven innings to become the first NL pitcher 43 years or older to record three consecutive outings of six or more innings pitched since Bartolo Colon did so in seven consecutive for the Mets in 2016. Hill threw 119 pitches (72 for strikes) in seven innings, the most by a MLB pitcher this season.

“I’m not really aware of the pitch count,” Hill said. “You are pitching until the manager takes the ball from your hands. Shelty let me go out there and let me finish that seventh inning, which, obviously, I’m thankful for. I think that was something that felt good.”

The Mets took a 1-0 lead in the second inning when Jeff McNeil doubled to center and scored on a single by Mark Vientos.

The Pirates answered with a two-run double by Austin Hedges to score Hayes and Ji Hwan Bae for a 2-1 lead in the bottom of the second.

Francisco Lindor drilled Hill’s full-count curveball 382 feet over the left-field fence for his 12th home run to tie the score in the third.

“He executed the whole game,” Shelton said. “He gave up the home run to Lindor on a hanging breaking ball. Other than that, he was really good all game long. Both sides of the plate with all of his pitches.”

The Pirates answered again in the bottom half of the inning, when they scored five runs in a rally started by McCutchen in his pursuit of 2,000 hits. McCutchen got No. 1,999 on a sharp grounder to short that Lindor backhanded and attempted a jump-throw that pulled Mark Canha off first base. Carlos Santana hit into a would-be double play, but Lindor bobbled the ball before he touched second base and both runners were safe.

Jack Suwinski (3 for 4) drew a four-pitch walk to load the bases for Hayes, who swung at a slider below his knees and lined a two-run single to left to score McCutchen and Santana for a 4-2 Pirates lead. Bae dropped a squeeze bunt down the third-base line to drive in Suwinski, and Eduardo Escobar made an errant throw that allowed Hayes to score from second and Bae to reach third base. Josh Palacios (2 for 5) singled to right to score Bae to give the Pirates a 7-2 lead before Hedges grounded into a double play.

McCutchen worked a two-out walk in the fourth, going to third on Santana’s single to right. The Mets pulled Megill, who gave up seven earned runs on eight hits in 3 2/3 innings, for lefty Zach Muckenhirn, who gave up back-to-back doubles to Suwinski and Hayes as the Pirates stretched their lead to 10-2.

When Tucupita Marcano drilled a double down the right-field line with two outs in the fifth, all nine players in the Pirates’ batting order had a hit for the first time this season. It was the first time the Pirates accomplished that feat since an 8-2 win over St. Louis on Sept. 9.

Reynolds drew a walk, but McCutchen grounded out to short to end the inning and continue his chase toward the milestone.

“It’s really cool. I think the crowd was into it,” Shelton said. “I think it’s going to be a really special moment when he gets it.”

The Pirates added another run in the sixth, when Suwinski singled, advanced to third on a Hayes double and scored on Bae’s sacrifice fly to left for an 11-2 lead. Palacios singled to drive in Hayes and make it 12-2.

Santana led off the eighth with a 409-foot solo shot to right field for his fourth home run and a 13-2 lead, and Suwinski followed with a 415-foot blast to center for his 12th homer to make it 14-2. It marked the sixth time the Pirates hit back-to-back homers this season.

The Mets added five runs in the ninth.

Canha singled off Rob Zastryzny and scored on an error by Bae at second base. Francisco Alvarez singled off David Bednar to drive in Eduardo Escobar. Tommy Pham hit a line drive at right fielder Canaan Smith-Njigba, who lost it in the light and missed the ball to allow Brett Baty and Alvarez to score and cut it to 14-6. Luis Guillorme hit a ground-rule double to drive in Pham before Bednar got Omar Narvaez to fly out to right for the final out.

After losing the previous two games to the Oakland A’s, who have baseball’s worst record, the Pirates (33-29) moved to within a half-game of Milwaukee (34-29) for first place in the NL Central.

“(We) bounced back and just kept going the whole game,” Shelton said. “It’s good to see. Really good offensive night for our group. We had good swings throughout.”

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