Wheee! The Pirates were officially eliminated from postseason contention with a miserable loss to a miserable team (and pitcher) on the same night Frank Coonelly angered much of the fan base by retaining much of the front office. (I’ll have my full thoughts on that up soon, probably this weekend.) Tonight’s loss clinches a season series loss to the lowly Mets and drops the Bucs back to three under .500 with just seven games to play.
Jeremy Hefner was a Pirate for about a month this offseason. The Bucs claimed him off waivers, then put him on waivers, and then the Mets claimed him. He’s been with the Mets all year and has been about what you’d expect from a guy bouncing around waivers…especially in his last start, when he gave up seven runs without recording an out. Naturally, he tossed seven shutout innings tonight and allowed just three singles and a walk.
Jeff Locke, meanwhile, lost yet again – he’s now winless in his first nine MLB starts, the longest streak for a Pirate since 1965. Locke started out fine and didn’t have a problem missing bats or finding the zone (5 K’s, 1 BB) but once again allowed too many hits (9). Jeff did not make it through the fourth inning as some shoddy defense also contributed to his struggles, and he was charged with five runs.
The only other notable part of the game was this fantastic shot of Jeff Karstens in the dugout. That pretty much sums up the night.
Mets 6,Pirates 0 / Box / 2012 Record: 76-79 / Next: Thursday, at Mets, 1:10
MVP: Alvarez (+.043) / LVP: Locke (-.281) / Key play: Wright’s single
