Mets Score In Later Innings To Shutout Pirates

by Zane Heiple

Photo Courtesy of AP

Today’s game felt like it had two parts for the Pittsburgh Pirates.  Innings 1 through 6 were an easy cruise for starter Kevin Correia, while innings 7 to 9 were a mess for Correia and the Pirates bullpen.  Meanwhile, the New York Mets pitchers had no trouble handling the Bucco offense.

Correia would go a total of 7.2 innings today while allowing four runs on seven hits while striking out four.  All four of the runs he gave up came in the seventh and eighth innings.  He started the first four innings with a perfect game, but that fell apart in the later innings.  New York got on the board in the seventh when Jason Bay hit a sacrifice fly that scored Daniel Murphy.  Angel Pagan was forced out at second when he did not retouch the bag while going back to first.  Then Mets then scored four runs in the eighth inning to take away any hope of a Pittsburgh comeback.  Scott Harrison and Jose Reyes would then hit back to back solo home runs off of Daniel McCutchen to give the Mets a 7-0 victory.

As stated earlier, New York’s pitching staff had no trouble handling the Pirates offense.  Starter Chris Capuano pitched seven innings allowing only three hits while striking out five and walking two.  He was followed by Jason Isringhausen and Bobby Parnell.

These kinds of losses have been piling up for Pittsburgh in 2011, where we have a solid outing by a starter that is wasted by lack of offense.  While Correia did give up four runs, who knows how the game would have turned if the offense would have given him three or four runs of support before the Mets had a big eighth inning.  These two teams will finish up this four game series tomorrow night at 7:05pm.  Paul Maholm will start and hopefully the bats will wake up and score some runs.

Record vs. Mets:  3-4
Record vs. N.L. East:  7-12
Record at Home:  14-18
Overall Record 31-33

And…

As Always…

Let’s Go Bucs!!!

Pirates Lose Early Lead And Game To Mets

by Zane Heiple

Photo by Getty Images

The Pittsburgh Pirates wrapped up a four game series with the New York Mets this afternoon.  Paul Maholm got the nod for the Buccos, while the Mets countered with Mike Pelfrey.  Maholm has pitched well all year, but has received little run support in many of those starts, while today would be different in many aspects the result would be the same.

Pittsburgh would jump out to a red hot start today, scoring seven runs in the first three innings.  They scored three runs in the first on RBI’s from Andrew McCutchen, Neil Walker, and Matt Diaz.  The Buccos equaled that total in the second with another McCutchen RBI single and a two-run home run from Walker.  The third inning also saw Xavier Paul bring home Dusty Brown to give the Pirates their 7-0 lead.

The Mets did counter in the bottom of the third when they scored three runs.  After Jose Reyes and Justin Turner singled, Carlos Beltran hit a three run shot to left field.  This 7-3 scored held up until the sixth inning when New York got the best of the Maholm by scoring four runs and tying the game.  Ruban Tejada singled to right field scoring Beltran and Jason Bay.  A throwing error by Diaz led to Nick Evans scoring from second on a single by Daniel Murphy.  Maholm would leave the game after this play.  His final stat line read 5.2 innings pitched, six earned runs on eight hits, with two walks and two strikeouts.  New York then tied the game on a passed ball by Brown that allowed Tejada to score.

New York then closed the door with a two run eighth inning.  Tejada hit a sacrifice fly to centerfield and then Jose Veras issued a bases loaded walk to Beltran that scored Josh Thole.  Walker collected another RBI in the ninth, but that wasn’t enough as the Mets went on to win 9-8.

Frustrating loss for the Pirates today in two regards.  First, anytime a team has a seven run lead, they need to capitalize and collect the W.  By not doing this, we as fans see that there is still much work to do for the Pirates to separate themselves from the team that lost 105 games last season.  Second, it would have been huge to take three of four from the Mets and five of seven on this road trip before heading into a ten game home stand that features the first place Philadelphia Phillies and Arizona Diamondbacks, along with another four game series with the Mets.

Pittsburgh will try to counter tomorrow when they begin a three game series with the Phillies.  It will be interesting to see if the Pirates surprising rotation success can at least match that of Philadelphia’s stable of aces.  First pitch tomorrow at PNC Park is scheduled for 7:05pm

Record vs. Mets:  2-2
Record vs. N.L. East 4-9
Record on the Road:  17-15
Overall Record 26-29

And…

As Always…

Let’s Go Bucs!!!