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!!!

McCutchen Drives In Two, Pirates Beat Mets 3-2

By Chad Carlson

Photo Credit: Justin K. Aller/Getty Images

After one of the more disappointing losses of the season last night, the Pirates were back in action this evening against the New York Mets at PNC Park.  As expected, this was a closely-played ballgame throughout, with the Pirates making the big plays down the stretch, earning a 3-2 victory and evening the four game series at a game a piece.

James McDonald took the hill for the Buccos, facing off against the Mets’ knuckleballer R.A. Dickey. 

McDonald wasn’t his best tonight, but did enough to keep the Pirates in the game.  James gave up two runs on eight hits while walking three and striking out two through his six innings of work.  The victory improved his record to 4-4 with a 4.80 ERA.  His on-mound opponent pitched a complete game, giving up three runs on eight hits.  The loss dropped Dickey to 3-7 for the season.

Fans From The Stands' Chad Carlson and Zane Heiple made their predictions before the game:

The Mets took the lead in the first inning off a fielder’s choice groundout by Daniel Murphy, scoring Ruben Tejada.  The lead didn’t last long, though.  Garrett Jones hammered a double to the deepest part of the ballpark in the second inning, scoring Neil Walker, evening the game, 1-1.

Andrew McCutchen delivered what would eventually be the winning hit in the third inning.  Cutch’s two-run double drove Jose Tabata and Josh Harrison home, giving the Pirates a lead that they wouldn’t give up for the rest of the night.

The Mets did inch closer in the fifth inning on Carlos Beltran’s RBI single to right centerfield, scoring Jose Reyes.  But that would be the last the Mets would threaten, and the Pirates took home the victory.

The bullpen did a fantastic job tonight.  Tim Wood, Tony Watson, and Jose Veras collectively pitched two innings of shutout baseball, setting the stage for Joel Hanrahan.  The Buccos’ closer set the Mets down in order in the ninth inning, securing his 16^th save of the season, much to the delight of the standing-room only crowd at PNC Park.

The Pirates once again rebounded from a tough loss to earn a very important victory.  Their starter, while not pitching his best, worked his way through six innings without surrendering an insurmountable number of runs, and the bullpen shut the door on any potential threat. 

Collectively, the offense did a nice job tonight.  Tabata, Harrison, and Jones each had two hits, while Cutch and Brandon Wood added a knock a piece.  Neil Walker was held hitless once again tonight, dropping his batting average to .255.

Check out the post-game show from PNC Park:

The Pirates are once again close to zoning in on the .500 mark.  Sitting at 31-32, the Buccos will take on the Mets tomorrow afternoon at 1:35pm.  Kevin Correia will make the start for Pittsburgh, looking to win his ninth game of the season.

Record Vs. Mets: 3-3

Record Vs. N.L. East: 7-11

Record At Home: 14-17

Overall Record: 31-32

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!!!