Loss number 82 came about quickly and early. The Mets clobbered Jeff Karstens for seven runs in the first four innings and cruised in. Pittsburgh’s offense was anemic, mustering only six hits of Mike Pelfrey.
Jose Reyes led off with a single. With two outs he was standing on second after swiping the base. Karstens then gave up four straight singles to rookie Chris Carter, David Wright, Ike Davis and Josh Thole. When the dust settled it was 3-0 Mets. Carter led off the third with a solo homer. Later in the inning, Wright – who had singled and stole second – scord on an RBI single from Thole. Karstens was pulled with one out in the third with runners on second and third. Carlos Beltran greeted Sean Gallagher with a single that scored two runs, one courtesy of an error on the play from Jose Tabata.
After that, the Mets were done. The Pirates bullpen pitched 5-2/3 inning of shutout baseball. The Pirates chipped away early, but didn’t get nearly enough. Ryan Doumit hit a solo homer in the second. Andrew McCutchen singled in a run in the third.
Pelfrey allowed six hits in eight innings. He gave up two runs (one earned). He walked two and struck out five. Karstens managed to scatter ten outs among eleven hits and seven runs. He struck out one.
The Good
McCutchen had two hits.
Bucs pitchers allowed just one walk.
The Bad
82 losses. ‘Nuf said.
The Rest
Pelfrey is 2-1 against the Buccos. Karstens is 0-2 against the Mets.
This was the 19th time that Pirate pitchers allowed one walk or fewer this year.
Pedro Alvarez is in the middle of an 0-12 streak in which he has whiffed seven times.
The Mets collected 15 or more hits for the first time since June 22.
Wright has hits in seven of his last eight games. Reyes has a seven game hitting streak and has hits in nine of ten games.
