Perez’s Gem Falls Apart After Ugly Inning, as Mets Lose to Bucs
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Josh Phelps capped a five-run sixth inning with a two-run homer, then added an RBI double in the seventh to lead the Pittsburgh Pirates over the Mets 8–4 on yesterday.
It was just the second win in 12 games since the All-Star break for the Pirates and ended a three-game Mets’ winning streak.
Left-hander Paul Maholm (7-12) won for the third time in four starts, limiting the Mets to three runs and six hits over six-plus innings.
Mets starter Oliver Perez (9-7) protected a 1-0 lead for five innings, dominating a Pittsburgh team that is next-to-last in the NL in runs. He retired 11 straight batters over a stretch that included four consecutive strikeouts, but then made a big error that cost him.
He ran into trouble in the sixth when Nate McLouth opened with a broken-bat single. Maholm faked a bunt and then beat out a chopper to shortstop. Cesar Itzuris sacrificed, and when Perez threw the ball away, McLouth scored the tying run.
Perez retired the next two batters but Xavier Nady ripped a two-strike single off the glove of third baseman David Wright, scoring two runs. Phelps followed with his third home run of the season for a 5–1 lead.
Pittsburgh added three runs in the seventh on five straight two-out hits, including RBI singles by Jason Bay and Nady and a double by Phelps against reliever Joe Smith.
Perez allowed five runs — just one earned — and five hits in six innings. He struck out nine and walked one.
New York jumped ahead in the first inning when Jose Reyes led off with a single and stole second. He moved to third on an infield out and scored on a sacrifice fly by Wright.
After that, Maholm kept the Mets in check, allowing only a sixth-inning homer by Lastings Milledge until giving up hits to Damion Easley and Ramon Castro opening the seventh. Damaso Marte relieved and retired the next three batters, allowing a sacrifice fly by Ruben Gotay.
Reyes homered in the eighth against Shawn Chacon.
Notes: Reyes’s first-inning steal was his 48th this season. His eighth-inning homer was his seventh. … Mets CF Carlos Beltran remained sidelined by an abdominal muscle strain.
