New York Mets

          Series preview: Mets at Pirates

          NEW YORK METS (24-18, second place/NL East) at PITTSBUGH PIRATES (18-22, third place/NL Central)

          Friday: RHP Noah Syndergaard (1-1, 3.18) vs. RHP Gerrit Cole (5-2, 2.40), 7:05 p.m. ET

          Saturday: RHP Matt Harvey (5-1, 1.98) vs. RHP A.J. Burnett (3-1, 1.38), 4:05 p.m. ET

          Sunday: LHP Jonathon Niese (3-4, 3.72) vs. LHP Francisco Liriano (1-4, 4.15), 1:35 p.m. ET

          PIRATES SHORT HOPS

          • South Korean infielder Jung Ho Kang signed a four-year, $11 million contract with the Pirates in January. The Pirates also paid a $5 million posting fee. He became the first-ever position player to move from the Korean Baseball Organization to the majors. (Hee Seop Choi played in the KBO after his major league career.) Kang, 28, hit .356 with 40 homers and 117 RBIs in 418 at-bats with the Nexen Heroes last season, although South Korean ballparks typically are smaller. Mainly a shortstop in his native country, Kang originally was projected to serve as a backup infielder in the majors. However, Kang (.313, 2 HR, 10 RBIs, 80 ABs) seems to have overtaken struggling Jordy Mercer (.171, 0 HR, 8 RBIs, 111 ABs) as the primary shortstop. Overall, Kang has made 10 starts at shortstop and nine starts at third base this season.

          • Slowed by a cranky left knee, four-time All-Star Andrew McCutchen is off to a disappointing start. McCutchen is hitting .238 with five homers, 23 RBIs and two steals in 143 at-bats.

          • Burnett took a discount to return to the Pirates during the offseason. Burnett, who went 8-18 with a 4.59 ERA last season with the Phillies, declined a $12.75 million player option to remain in Philadelphia. Instead, the 38-year-old right-hander signed an $8.5 million deal in November to return to Pittsburgh. He went 26-21 with a 3.41 ERA in 61 starts with the Pirates in 2012 and '13.

          • First baseman Pedro Alvarez belted the third-ever homer out of PNC Park and into the Allegheny River … sort of. Alvarez, a product of The Bronx’s Horace Mann School, actually hit a 461-foot shot on Tuesday into a boat docked on the river beyond the right-field stands. The undisputed river shots were produced by Houston’s Daryle Ward in 2002 and Pittsburgh’s Garrett Jones in 2013. The ballpark has been open for 15 seasons.

          • Jose Tabata re-joined the Pirates on Tuesday. He twice cleared waivers last season and had lost his 40-man roster spot in October, but remains a Pirate in the fifth year of a six-year, $15 million contract. Tabata, 26, hit .352 and had a .422 on-base percentage with Triple-A Indianapolis to open the season.

          • Cole was honored as the National League’s Pitcher of the Month for April. He went 4-0 with a 1.76 ERA during the season’s opening month. The first overall pick in the 2011 draft, Cole was a UCLA teammate of Mets reliever Erik Goeddel.

          • Right fielder Gregory Polanco is hitless in his last 19 at-bats. In the series finale against the Minnesota Twins on Tuesday, Josh Harrison moved from third base to start in place of Polanco. Kang handled third base and Mercer returned to shortstop after a four-game absence.

          • Harrison, 27, signed a four-year, $27.3 million contract extension on April 8 that may be worth as much as $50.3 million if options are exercised. His average stood at .173 after going hitless on May 10. Since then, however, he is batting .514 (18-for-35) with two homers and five RBIs in eight games.

          • Liriano allowed seven runs and departed after two innings on Tuesday against the Twins.

          • Pittsburgh has lost six of its past seven games. Struggling offensively, the Pirates are 6-12 in May.