Pittsburgh Pirates outlast New York Mets, take 3 of 4 at Citi Field

Pedro Alvarez drove in the go-ahead run in the eighth and the Pittsburgh Pirates’ bullpen hung on to another late lead, downing the New York Mets 3-2 on Sunday afternoon at Citi Field in Queens. Despite dropping Thursday’s series opener in extra innings, the Pirates won three out of four in a ballpark where they’ve had little success since it opened in 2010.

May 4, 2013; Pittsburgh, PA, USA; Pittsburgh Pirates shortstop Clint Barmes (12) rounds the bases after hitting a two run homerun against the Washington Nationals during the fifth inning at PNC Park. The Washington Nationals won 5-4. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports

Like most MLB clubs, the Pirates were challenged with the situation of solving Matt Harvey, the Mets’ young ace. Coming into Sunday afternoon, Harvey was nearly unbeatable with a 4-0 record and a 1.44 earned-run average.

But the Bucs would strike in the third inning, scoring two runs. The first one came off the bat of Clint Barmes as he drove one over the left-field wall, his second homer of the season. The other run came when Garrett Jones hit a sacrifice fly.It was a 2-1 game until the seventh inning when New York’s Mike Baxter singled home John Buck to tie the game against reliever Justin Wilson.

Just like earlier in the game, the Pirates responded with a run of their own the next inning. This time it was Alvarez bringing home Andrew McCutchen with a single to left.

Jeanmar Gomez started for the Pirates, pitching another solid five innings and giving up just the one run when Lucas Duda went deep to center in the second. Vin Mazzaro, Mark Melancon and Jason Grilli followed with a scoreless inning apiece. Melancon earned his 13th hold of the year while Grilli got save No. 15.

The Pirates will head back home to take on the Milwaukee Brewers in a four-game series that begins Monday night.