Mets Bats Quiet in Loss to Pirates

After scoring 26 runs over their past three games, many people were thinking the Mets offense has finally arrived. Well, the offense apparently did not make the trip to Pittsburgh because the Mets managed just two runs in Thursday night’s loss to the Pirates.

The Mets threatened in the second. SIngles by Bobby Abreu and Juan Lagares, just back from the DL, put runners on first and second. With two outs Ruben Tejada singled but Abreu was thrown out at the plate to end the inning.

So it was the Pirates who got on the board first. Daisuke Matsuzaka walked Jordy Mercer to lead off the inning. He was sacrificed to second, moved to third on a wild pitch and scored on a ground out.

Lucas Duda tied the score with one swing of the bat in the fourth — a solo home run to the opposite field. It was Duda’s team-leading 12th home run and his second in two games.

The Pirates stole a run to take the lead in the fourth. With old pal Ike Davis on first and Andrew McCutchen on third with two outs, Davis took off for second. Matsuzaka threw to Lucas Duda, who threw to David Wright, who was covering second base because of an infield shift. In the meantime, McCutchen broke for home and scored before Wright could tag Davis to give the Pirates a 2-1 lead. Poor fundamentals once again by the Mets.

Two Pirates singles put runners on first and second with one out in the fifth. They advanced to second and third on a passed ball by Travis d’Arnaud. Phenom Gregory Polanco then hit a long home run into the seats in right and just like that the Pirates led 5-1.

Matsuzaka let up five runs in six innings. He allowed five hits, struck out four and walked four.

Daniel Murphy and Wright hit back-to-back doubles to lead off the eighth to bring the score to 5-2. But Wright was stranded at second.

Mets lose 5-2.