Pittsburgh Pirates Edge New York Mets In Extra Innings

For the second straight evening the Pittsburgh Pirates won in extra innings Saturday as they beat the Mets 5-3 in New York. The crew of the Jolly Roger is 22 games over .500, and have captured their 20th series of the season.

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Pittsburgh is 6-2 on this road trip, and they are 20-8 against teams from the National League East. The Pirates at 68-46 are six games behind the first place St. Louis Cardinals (75-41) in the N.L. Central.

The Pirates took charge in the top of the 14th. Francisco Cervelli got the inning started by collecting his 14th double on a line drive to left off New York’s Sean Gilmartin. Starling Marte reached first base on a fielders choice after first baseman Daniel Murphy failed to throw out Cervelli running to third.

Pedro Florimon, pinch-running for Cervelli, crossed the plate on Chris Stewart‘s line drive single to center. Stewart was pinch-hitting for pitcher Joe Blanton when he claimed his first game-winning hit this season. Sean Rodriguez added an insurance run as his pop up single to shortstop Ruben Tejada scored Marte. Gilmartin’s record moved to 1-1 with the loss.

The Pirates acquired a 2-0 lead in the first. With two out Andrew McCutchen drew a walk off Mets starter Jon Niese. It was Aramis Ramirez‘ turn to give Pirates fans a reason to cheer as he hit a 370 foot shot to deep left center for his 12th home run of the season. Gregory Polanco made it 3-0 in favor of Pittsburgh in the third when he hit a 370 foot blast to deep right off Niese.

Niese gave up three earned runs on five hits over his six innings of work for New York. The 28-year-old left-hander struck out five and walked two in dealing with 25 Buccos at the plate. He hurled 56 of his 82 pitches for strikes.

Pittsburgh Pirates /

Pittsburgh Pirates

The Mets battled back as they tied the game in the bottom of the seventh. Juan Uribe ripped his 12th home run of the season on a 425-foot fly ball to center off Pirates’ starter Charlie Morton. With only one out and Travis d’Arnaud on first, Michael Comforto knotted every thing up with his second home run on a 380-foot line drive to right.

Morton was done in six 1/3 innings, being charged with two of the three runs in the seventh. The 6-foot-5, 235-pound right-hander struck out a season-high nine and walked only one. The 31-year-old Morton delivered 57 of his 88 pitches for strikes in taking on 25 Met batters.

“But what a strong effort by Charlie,” Pirates manager Clint Hurdle told Tom Singer and Joe Trezza on MLB.com after the game. “Nothing going on for six innings, then things got a little complicated for him.”

The bullpen got the job done as six relievers combined for 7 2/3 scoreless innings for the Bucs. Joe Blanton (2-0) was outstanding as he struck out six in facing 11 hitters over three scoreless innings. Mark Melancon closed the door in the bottom of the 14th as he got his major league-leading 37th save.

BOX SCORE

Up Next: The Pirates and Mets conclude their three-game set Sunday at Citi Field. New York will hand the ball to 26-year-old Matt Harvey (11-7, 2.61 ERA/0.99 WHIP). The 6-foot-4, 215-pound right-hander has recorded 135 strikeouts over 148.0 innings pitched.

Pittsburgh will counter with 27-year-old Jeff Locke (6-7, 4.43 ERA/1.42 WHIP). The 6-foot, 195-pound left-hander has 95 strikeouts over 124.0 innings pitched. The contest is scheduled to get underway at 1:10 p.m., and you can catch all the action on ROOT Sports Pittsburgh.

From The Clipboard: The game lasted 4:02, and there were 38,878 in the seats at Citi Field…The Bucs were 61-53 after 114 games last season…The Pirates are now 9-7 in extra inning contests this season…With the victory Saturday, Hurdle is tied with George Gibson at 401 each for the eighth most wins by a Bucs manager in team history…Pittsburgh is 48-6 when outhitting the opposition.

Next: Steelers Vs. Jaguars Preseason Wrap-Up

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