Mets Sink Pirates: Series Recap

After whipping Washington's butt, the Mets took on the Bucs with a one-game lead in the standings. And when the dust settled near the Allegheny River, they took three out of four from the Bucs and now have a game and a half lead over the Phillies. Here's what happened in the four-game series. Friday, Mets 2-1: A Cracklin' Good Victory Jerry Manuel has guts. Aaron Heilman vs. the Pirates in the ninth inning didn't work out very well earlier in the week. But on Friday night, Manuel put the reliever right back in there to protect another one-run lead. That's kind of like asking Frank the Tank to watch the keg twice in a row. But with a little help from a heads-up, diving play by Argenis Reyes (bailing out Carlos "Stone Hands" Delgado), Heilman rewarded his manager by not getting plastered and streaking through Pittsburgh, but instead earning his third save of the year. The Mets are going to need an effective Heilman the rest of the way, no matter what some wise-ass bloggers may have to say about him. The rest of the game was a pitcher's duel, and also featured one defensive gem after another. The Mets started the game by scoring two runs on three straight hits and a wild pitch, but that was it for the game. Mike Pelfrey tossed seven shutout innings without issuing a free pass. And he helped his own cause by fielding his position nicely. Behind him, David Wright, Jose Reyes, Carlos Beltran and Argenis Reyes put on a defensive clinic. It was a crisp, quick game. And for the first time this year the Mets made it to 10 games over .500. Saturday, Mets 7-4: Pedro Good, Kunz Bad A rusty Eddie Kunz turned a blowout into a nailbiter, but for the first seven innings Pedro Martinez looked like Pedro Martinez and he made the Pirates look like the Pirates. The seven innings pitched was his season high, and he only let up one run on a solo shot by Andy LaRoche. Kunz made things interesting in the ninth when he hit a batter, threw a wild pitch and let up three runs on three hits. Granted, he hadn't pitched in six days, but when Jerry Manuel came out to the mound to take him out I could have sworn I saw him hand the reliever a bus ticket to New Orleans. (And with the trade for Luis Ayala that's where he's headed.) Pedro Feliciano ended up notching the save. Jose Reyes led off the game with a home run, and he smashed a triple the next inning, almost passing Pedro on the bases. Ramon Castro added a two-run blast in the sixth, and the Mets should have cruised to an easy victory. But it was a victory nonetheless. And Keith Hernandez gave us some insight on what it was like in spring training with the Cardinals: they pounded lots and lots of Bud. Sunday, Mets 4-0: The Complete Santana Johan Santana earned his money in this one, throwing a brilliant complete-game shutout. He made it look easy, giving up only three hits with seven strikeouts and no walks on 113 pitches. It's his second complete game of the year (but maybe should have been his third or fourth). The Brian Schneider offensive explosion continues. He smashed a two-run homer and had an RBI single. Two home runs in four days?who does he think he is, Ramon Castro? Carlos Beltran added a solo shot in the sixth to complete the scoring. This was the first time the Mets have won six straight road games since September of 2001. David Wright had his second day off of the season. He spent the game at the end of the dugout napping under a sombrero. Monday, Pirates 5-2: No Sweep For You Monday afternoons and the Pirates just don't mix for the Mets this season. The offense couldn't score, and a rogues' gallery of Mets relievers couldn't stop the Pirates from scoring. The bullpen just can't help themselves, can they? John Maine threw an astounding 468 pitches (ok, 96) in five innings. He didn't give up a run but walked four. But our friends in the pen gave up five runs in three innings to seal the loss. Damion Easley tried to break Joe Torre's team record by hitting into two double plays, but fell two short. "I'll give it another shot tomorrow," he said after the game. Jose Reyes got the day off, and Jerry Manuel forgot that he was going to give himself the day off too, so he had himself ejected in the third inning.