The Mets (63-54) fell to the Pirates (68-46) by a score of 5-3 in 14 innings on Saturday night.
Jon Niese turned in a decent outing for the Mets, giving up 3 runs on 5 hits and 2 walks in 6 innings, striking out 5.
The Mets were bitten by the long ball in the first inning for the third straight game. After a questionable call by Bob Davidson behind the plate put Andrew McCutchen on first with a two-out walk, Aramis Ramirez sent Niese’s next pitch over the wall to put the Pirates up 2-0. Gregory Polanco extended Pittsburgh’s lead in the third inning with a solo shot that put the visitors up 3-0.
The Mets failed to do anything against Pittsburgh starter Charlie Morton early in the game. But after Carlos Torres worked a scoreless top of the seventh in relief of Niese, the Mets came roaring back after the stretch to get their starter off the hook. Juan Uribe led off the frame with a solo shot, and after a throwing error by Aramis Ramirez put Travis d’Arnaud on base with one out, Michael Conforto rocketed one over the wall in right to tie the game at three and send Morton to the showers.
After Tyler Clippard worked through the top of the eighth, Jeurys Familia put up a zero in the ninth with some major help from Yoenis Cespedes. Sean Rodriguez hit one into the gap for an extra-base hit, but when the ball took an odd bounce, he turned for third and was gunned down by an absolute missile from Cespedes.
The game headed to extras, where Hansel Robles pitched three strong innings out of the bullpen for the Mets. The Mets got the winning run in scoring position in the bottom of the 12th when Lucas Duda worked a pinch-hit walk and Ruben Tejada singled, but Wilmer Flores struck out to extend the ballgame.
Sean Gilmartin pitched a scoreless frame in the 13th, but the Pirates got to him in the 14th to win the game. A leadoff double by Francisco Cervelli put the go-ahead run in scoring position. Starling Marte grounded one to Daniel Murphy, who made a poor decision and tried to get the lead runner rather than taking the sure out at first, and instead got nothing. Chris Stewart lined a single into center to put the Pirates up 4-3, and with runners still on the corners, Rodriguez popped one over the drawn-in infield to make it 5-3. Gilmartin got out of the inning thanks to a double-play on a popped-up bunt attempt and a runner caught stealing, but the damage had been done.
Kelly Johnson doubled with one out in the bottom of the 14th against Pirates closer Mark Melancon, but Travis d’Arnaud and Anthony Recker‘s well-hit drives both found the glove of Andrew McCutchen, and the Pirates escaped with an extra-inning victory for the second straight night, allowing Ne-Yo to finally take the stage for his postgame concert.
For the most part, the Mets offense has quieted down lately. But the resilience is still there, as shown by their comeback in the seventh inning— a combined effort from veteran Juan Uribe and rookie Michael Conforto. Conforto hasn’t been putting up great numbers, but he’s shown a good eye and has been hitting the ball quite hard, which is all you can ask for. As for Uribe, I’m not sure how he’s successful— he pulls out on every swing, and it seems like he’d never get a hit if pitchers just stuck with off-speed pitches on the outside part of the plate. But he seems to make it work.
Niese wasn’t great tonight, but he kept the Mets in the game, as he has done in nearly every single start the last few months. However, the Mets can’t keep giving up all these first inning runs. It cost them a game back in Tampa, and it’s definitely been an issue the last three games here at home.
The bullpen did a solid job, taking over in the 7th and keeping the Pirates off the board until the 14th inning. Robles in particular was terrific. At some point, the offense has to pick up the relievers and put the ballgame away.
Murphy hasn’t made many mistakes over the last few months, but his gaffe tonight was boneheaded to say the least. The Mets probably weren’t putting up a zero in that inning anyway, but he certainly didn’t help the cause (of course, the issue was that he was trying far too hard to keep that go-ahead run off the board).
Cespedes has been hitting well, and we finally saw that arm tonight. He’s a terrific ballplayer, and it’s frustrating that—while I won’t waste too many words on it tonight— we almost certainly won’t see him in a Met uniform next year. Let’s try to enjoy him while he’s here, but we can’t get too attached.
Bob Davison was a huge detriment to this game. A home plate umpire’s presence should never be as noticeable as it was tonight. I don’t think anybody in either dugout was happy with him in this (extended) contest.
It’s a frustrating loss, but not an infuriating loss. The Mets have hung with one of the better teams in the league the last two nights, and while moral victories don’t count in the standings, their small cushion in the NL East allows one to avoid living and dying with each game. In the long run, however, the Mets will need to win these games more often than not. And they’ll certainly need to avoid the sweep with their ace on the hill next game.
Up Next: The Mets will wrap up their series with the Pirates on Sunday afternoon at Citi Field. Matt Harvey (11-7, 2.61 ERA) will face Jeff Locke (6-7, 4.43 ERA) at 1:10 PM.
