It was 2-2 when the 8th inning started. That was the good news. Then the bad news came. Tyler Yates allowed the first three runners to reach, with Carlos Beltran’s single breaking the 2-2 tie. Yates was lifted in favor of Sean Burnett, who threw gas on the fire. He gave up a three run dinger to Carlos Delgado and later an RBI single to Omir Santos. Ball game.
Jonathon Niese had been brought up to take the place of Oliver Perez on the active roster. He was effective in six innings allowing just two runs. Bobby Parnell was the winner in relief. Jeff Karstens was also good after giving up two runs in the first inning (both RBIs to Delgado, who had five on the game). He scattered three singles over his final five innings and walked none.
The Good
Um. It was 2-2 after seven?
The Bad
The bullpen blew up again. Burnett had not allowed a run in his last 9-1/3 innings of work. Yates has been up and down, mostly down, all year.
The offense continues to struggle. The Pirates have dropped 10 of 11 and have scored just 34 runs in that span.
The Rest
NY used five pitchers who had a combined total of four appearances against Pittsburgh lifetime.
Delgado had three hits and had come into this game hitting just .228 against the Pirates, his second worse career BA against any team (Milwaukee is at .223). His last homer against a Pittsburgh hurler was more than three years ago (5/3/06) off of Mike Gonzalez. This was his first career three hit game against Pittsburgh.
