Handed away on a silver platter.
The Pittsburgh Pirates (23-28) beat the New York Mets (28-22) by a score of 8-5.
Livan Hernandez was good, not great. He surrendered three runs in 5 2-3 innings, walking two and striking out five. Hernandez gave up a two-run triple and an RBI groundout in the bottom of the fourth inning.
With the Mets clinging to a 5-3 lead (they were up 5-0 at one point) the 8th inning came along and everything came crashing down. Pedro Feliciano started the inning, his second of work, and allowed a leadoff double. J.J. Putz came in with one out and allowed four straight hits, allowing three runs to score.
Something is obviously very wrong with Putz. He tried to tinker with his arm in a bullpen session earlier in the day. We all know the old adage about Rome, but his struggles have been grand and well chronicled. Don’t be surprised if he’s on the DL tomorrow.
With the bases loaded, Brian Stokes came on after Putz failed to get an out after facing five batters and induced a ground ball to shortstop Wilson Valdez. Instead of getting out of the inning with a double play, Valdez bobbled and dropped the ball, allowing a run to score and the bases to remain loaded. A sacrifice fly to center field scored the Pirated 8th and final run.
Valdez picked up three RBIs on a run-scoring triple and two-run double.
The offense didn’t get a hit from the 4th inning until the 9th inning. They had an early 5-0 lead and watched it shrink, then slip away. But the problem, more so, was the bullpen and the sieve that Putz has become.