PNC Park – Jordy Mercer halted his mini-slump in grand fashion as he singled up the middle in the eleventh inning to walk-off the Mets 3 – 2 on Friday night. It was the first hit with runners in scoring position in three attempts in extra frames as the Pirates had the bases loaded in the ninth and first and second in the tenth.
“You always want to be that guy — you always want to get the game winning hit and you want to score the game winning run,” said Mercer. “You go through your struggles, it’s just how you get out of them. I’ve been working a lot in the cage, trying to get some extra swings in there and it’s starting to payoff for me now. I just have to keep it going”
Charlie Morton continued the long string of strong starts by Pirate starters as he was flawless through five innings. He allowed a run in the sixth when Eric Young Jr. doubled softly down the left field line and David Wright, who was booed in every at-bat, blooped a ball into right field to cut the Pirates lead to 2 – 1.
Morton would make his only mistake of the game in the seventh when he left a sinker over the heart of the plate to Kirk Nieuwenhuis, who deposited the baseball into the right-centerfield seats to tie things at two. He would then finish his night by striking out Anthony Recker and Omar Quantanilla.
It was a very solid outing for Morton with his only mistake coming via the homer. Clint Hurdle liked the efficiency that Morton brought tonight; “The total body of work, its 93 pitches through seven innings — he was able to get the ball on the ground. It was good to see him continue to get a little bit better every time he’s had the ball.”
Pedro Alvarez kept his hot bat going into the Derby as he took the first pitch he saw from Jeremy Hefner into the Mets bullpen. That would be the only offense the Bucs would show as they didn’t cross the plate again until the eleventh when Andrew McCutchen led off with a walk. He would steal second on a Pedro strikeout. The Mets would then intentionally walk Russell Martin. One batter later, Jordy Mercer would hit a slow roller up the middle allowing Cutch to score to end it.
Starters Lines:
Morton (ND): 7 IN, 6 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 4 K’s, 1 HR. 93 Pitches (61 Strikes)
Hefner (ND): 7 IN, 3 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 3 K’s, 1 HR. 78 Pitches (55 Strikes)
These two will be back at it tomorrow night for Baseball Night in America at 7:15.
Tomorrow’s Starters:
(RHP) A.J. Burnett (PIT): 4 – 6, 3.05 ERA
(RHP) Carlos Torres (NYM): 0 – 1, 0.51 ERA
Follow Travis for Pirates news and in-game updates on Twitter @TBerardi_OVA or @ovathletics
(Photo Credit: Justin K. Aller/Getty Images)
