Author: Paul Zinn
A one-day stop in Pittsburgh for a make-up game sandwiched between tough series in Milwaukee and Philadelphia had to be inconvenient for the Mets. And New York had additional reasons to throw in the towel during this afternoon's contest at PNC Park.
They endured a rain-delay. They trailed 5-0. They rallied and built a 8-5 lead. They blew an 8-6 advantage in the ninth on a two-run home run. They then nearly lost.
But finally in the tenth, the Mets railled one final time, and the second time around Francisco Rodriguez converted the save for a huge, 9-8 win.
In the end, the Mets manufactured a run. With two outs and no one on in the tenth, Fernando Tatis was hit by a pitch. He stole second and scored on Ryan Church's single up the middle.
It was fittng because Church and Tatis were the two biggest offensive performers for the Mets. Church went 3-for-6 with two RBIs and two runs scored, while Tatis added a 3-for-4 performance and two RBIs and four runs.
Rodriguez entered the game in the bottom of the ninth with an 8-6 lead in a save situation but was unable to convert. Pinch-hitter Freddy Sanchez beat out an infield single and Adam LaRoche followed by belting a two-run homer to right centerfield.
Following the round-tripper, the go-ahead run got to third base, but fortunately, Brandon Moss' liner was right at second-baseman Luis Castillo to end the threat.
New York showed a lot of character rallying from a 5-0 deficit. Starting pitcher Tim Redding clearly just did not have his best stuff, going 2 1/3 innings and allowing five runs on six hits.
Robinson Diaz started the scoring in the second with an RBI single, and then after Redding loaded the bases, he hit Andrew McCutchen with a pitch to force home a second run. Jack Wilson's sacrifice fly made it 3-0, and then in the fourth Garrett Jones and Diaz knocked a run-scoring double and triple, respectively.
The Mets clawed back though, as Pirates starter Paul Maholm was equally as bad as Redding. And New York rallied quickly. Daniel Murphy's single brought home two runs in the fourth. Then, Gary Sheffield, Church and Nick Evans all had run-scoring singles, and Jeremy Reed added a sacrific fly during a four-run fifth to give the Mets a 6-5 lead.
A two-run homer by Tatis gave the Mets two more runs in the sixth that proved key. At the time, it added up to an 8-5 lead.
Jones' homer got one back for the Pirates in the seventh. But Sean Green worked out of a jam in the eight, and it was set-up for Rodriguez. The Mets closer has 21 saves and is in the midst of an excellent season. He is probably entitled to some slack, certainly more so than most Mets, but he has certainly not been as good of late.
The Mets will be in Philadelphia over the holiday weekend for a huge series. The matchups are as follows:
Friday, 7:05 p.m.: Livan Hernandez (5-3) vs. Rodrigo Lopez (No Record)
Saturday, 4:05 p.m. Fernando Nieve (3-2) vs. Jamie Moyer (6-6)
Sunday, 1:35 p.m. Johan Santana (9-6) vs. Joe Blanton (4-4)
The Mets are now 39-39 and amazingly, have an opportunity to be in sole possession of first place at the end of the weekend.
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