LHP Jonathon Niese is trying to cut some elements from his delivery, and it seemed to work Monday. Niese worked six innings of a 7-4 Pittsburgh win at Detroit and allowed four runs (one unearned) on five hits. He walked one and fanned five. "It's another step forward," said Niese. "I battled through that last inning. Ray (pitching coach Searage) and I have been working in the bullpen. I'm trying to change my delivery, quiet some stuff down. I threw a bullpen in the rain the other day and some things didn't feel right. I'm trying to stay back more so I don't rush my arm through. We're simplifying some things, trying to quiet things down."

LHP Jon Niese (9-10, 4.43 ERA in 2015) will make his first start of the season Tuesday night against the visiting St. Louis Cardinals. It will also be Niese's debut with the Pirates after he was acquired from the New York Mets in December in a trade for 2B Neal Walker. Niese is 4-3 with a 3.10 ERA against the Cardinals in nine career starts.

LHP Jon Niese will be the No. 3 starter for the Pirates after getting squeezed out of the New York Mets' rotation by a number of hard-throwing young pitchers last season. Acquired in a December trade for 2B Neil Walker, Niese is a sinkerball pitcher and his ability to induce groundballs dovetails well with the Pirates' strategy of aggressively shifting their infield. Niese, 29, was 9-10 with a 4.13 ERA last season in 33 games, including 29 starts.

LHP Jonathon Niese was acquired by the Pirates from the Mets on Wednesday in exchange for 2B Neil Walker.Niese, 29, posted a 9-10 record with a 4.13 ERA in 29 starts last season for the Mets. With young standouts Jacob deGrom, Matt Harvey, Noah Syndergaard and Steven Matz in the rotation, the 29-year-old was considered expendable by New York.

LHP Jonathon Niese is under contract through 2016, with team options for the following two seasons, but he will enter next season no higher than fifth on the rotation depth chart. The Mets might be able to address their offensive issues by finally trading the homegrown southpaw.

LHP Jonathon Niese, who started 29 games during the regular season, threw 21 pitches in two scoreless innings. The Mets lost 5-4 in 14 innings. "Unfortunately one team had to lose, and unfortunately it was us," Niese said. "We just have to go out and get them tomorrow. There's no panic for sure. It's a tough loss, but we know we have the personnel to get the job done."

Niese made his first relief appearance since July 10, 2011 on Tuesday, allowing with one run on three singles in 1.2 innings.

Niese will likely work at least one more time the final week of the season. That appearance could come Wednesday, as New York sees if Niese can go on back-to-back days.

Niese will miss his start Tuesday against the Phillies as he transitions to the bullpen for the playoffs, Mike Vorkunov of The Star-Ledger reports.

It was widely expected that Niese would move to the bullpen for the playoffs given how many good starters the Mets boast on their roster. The bullpen's long man Logan Verrett will get the start instead, something the Mets are probably fine with given they just clinched their division.

Niese won his ninth game of the season behind six shutout innings Monday against Atlanta. He struck out two, walked two, and allowed three hits.

Niese induced 13 ground balls and needed just 88 pitches to get through six innings in the gem. This marks Niese's first shutout outing since July 19 against St. Louis, when he went 7.2 shutout and struck out three. Niese now has a pair of consecutive quality starts after allowing five runs in his previous four starts. His ERA is down to 4.16.

Niese was handed a no decision Sunday against the Braves, as he allowed three runs (two earned) with three strikeouts and one walk in six innings.

Niese did not allow an extra-base hit and threw nearly 70 percent of his pitches for strikes, but the Mets' offense couldn't do enough against Braves starter Ryan Weber to earn him the win. The quality start snapped a streak of four outings in which Niese had allowed five or more runs, and he will look to build on this in his next scheduled start.

Niese was beaten up yet again Monday, allowing five runs in 3.1 innings while getting a no-decision.

Niese has been a mess in his past four starts, allowing 23 runs in 19.2 innings of work. He's also been victimized by the long ball in each of his last six starts. The lefty will own a 4.36 ERA when he takes the bump against the Braves this Sunday.

Niese (8-10) took the loss Tuesday against Philadelphia, allowing six runs on seven hits and two walks while striking out two over five innings.

Niese was roughed up for five runs in the third inning before leaving for a pinch-hitter after only throwing 69 pitches. His ERA has jumped from 3.50 to 4.17 over his last three starts. His next start will be Monday at Washington.

Niese walked five and struck out five while allowing five hits and five runs in six innings against the Phillies on Thursday.

He put the Mets in a 5-0 hole with a disastrous third inning, when the Phillies scored all their runs, but Niese was able to stick around in this game and finish six innings despite struggling mightily with his command. He's now been blown up for a dozen runs in his last two starts, although one of them was in Colorado. Even so, Niese's unpredictable inconsistency and low strikeout rate conspire to make him a risky fantasy option even on a Mets team that now has the offense to lift him out of the holes he digs himself, as they did Thursday.

Niese allowed seven runs on 11 hits and two walks Saturday against the Rockies. He struck out three as the Mets offense propelled him to his eighth win of the season.

Not one of the lefty's better starts on the season, but he was staked to en early 11 run lead, which could have factored into the Mets leaving him in the game despite taking a pounding of his own. Niese still has a 3.80 ERA on the season and will look to bounce back with a cushy Friday matchup against the Phillies.

Niese allowed three runs on five hits and two walks over six innings in a no-decision on Saturday.

Niese allowed three base runners and two runs in the first and did a good job of settling down after that. With how amazing the Mets rotation has been, Niese is generally overlooked, but he's had a pretty good season. He now maintains a 3.50 ERA and has a quality start in every game he's pitched aside from one since May 30. He'll look to keep that streak going in Coors Field next Saturday.

Niese earned his seventh win Monday against the Rockies, as he allowed two runs on six hits over seven innings. He struck out five and didn't walk a batter.

Niese earned the win thanks to a comeback after he was pulled for the second straight start. He deserved the win Monday night, as his only blemish was a laser beam opposite field home run from Carlos Gonzalez. He induced nine ground balls against just six fly balls and now has 11 quality starts in his last 12 appearances.

Niese improved to 6-9 Tuesday after holding the Marlins to just one run on four hits and a walk over seven innings. He struck out six.

Niese is on a roll, as he has 10 quality starts in his last 11 outings dating back to June 5. His ERA has fallen from 4.42 to 3.51 in that span and he owns a 49:20 K:BB in 71.1 innings over that span. He still isn't racking up the strikeouts, and he induced just four swinging strikes Tuesday night. He lived instead on ground balls, getting 10 against just five fly balls.

Niese held the Padres to one run on six hits and a walk in six innings Thursday, but received no decision.

Niese left with a 7-1 lead, but was a victim of his bullpen and the weather. First, relievers Bobby Parnell and Hansel Robles combined to load the bases and then give up a grand slam. Then, with two outs, nobody on and the Mets two strikes from victory, the game was delayed by rain, only for closer Jeurys Familia to come back and give up three straight hits, including a lead-changing three-run homer. This is simply awful luck for Niese and his fantasy owners, but at least he came back with a strong outing after getting bombed in his last start prior to going on the paternity list. For another twist, the game was delayed due to rain again following Upton's homer, and it could end up being suspended, which would further affect fantasy owners.

Niese was activated from the paternity list Tuesday, Anthony DiComo of MLB.com reports.

He won't return to the mound until Thursday, but the Mets had to activate Niese on Tuesday after the lefty spent the maximum three days on the paternity list. Niese gave up six runs over three innings against Los Angeles his last time out, snapping a streak of eight straight quality starts.

Niese was placed on the paternity list Saturday.

While Niese struggled in Friday's start amidst trade rumors, he was questionable to even pitch that game given his wife entered labor before the game, per ESPN's Adam Rubin. The paternity list means Niese will only miss three days, so he should make his next start whether it's with the Mets or not.