Gregory Polanco showed a sold out PNC Park crowd what he can do with his power as his three-run homer propelled the Pirates to a 5-2 victory over the Mets on Thursday night.
The fifth inning shot into the Clemente seats helped secure another victory for Vance Worley, who went seven innings allowing one run on seven hits.
It wasn’t Worley’s strongest start, but he was able to work out of a couple of jams with the aid of his defense. With runners on first and second with two out in the second, Ruben Tejada sent a single to left field. Josh Harrison came up throwing and fired a perfect strike to Russell Martin for the out at the plate to keep the game scoreless.
“Excellent throw early in the game,” said manager Clint Hurdle. “He made a throw from left and now he’s made a throw from right to nail a runner at home. He’s worked hard on all of the defensive aspects of his play. It’s fun to watch him have fun.”
The Pirates then struck first in the third. Jordy Mercer walked, advanced to second on a Worley sac bunt and scored on a Polanco groundout to second.
The lead was short lived though, as Lucas Duda hit a solo home run to lead off the fourth. The Mets again had runners on first and second with two outs, but Daisuke Matsuzaka flew out to left to end the threat. Worley allowed two more hits over his final three innings of work.
“Some of my off-speed cutters that I was throwing weren’t cutting, they were just spinning there leading to some base-hits,” said Worley. “I just had to keep throwing it and believe in it and going back to my sinker and hoping they put the ball into play, but to somebody.”
The Pirates got the lead back for good in the fourth. Andrew McCutchen led off the inning with a double — his 19th extra base hit of the month–, advanced to third on a groundout and scored on a set delay steal. Ike Davis, who walked with two out, left for second drawing a throw from Matsuzaka. McCutchen then broke for the plate and was able to score before Davis was tagged out in the rundown.
“We have a number of different things we can try and do in certain situations,” said Clint Hurdle. “The shifts can sometimes maybe afford you a chance here and there and Rick Sofield has done a great job at talking to these guys and implementing these plays and really all the credit goes to him and the players that were involved.”
Polanco then provided the decisive blow in the fifth. With runners on second and third and one out, Polanco was able to work a full count before sending a slider 10 rows deep into the Clemente seats for a Pirates 5-1 lead.
“I was just trying to make contact with the ball,” said Polanco. “I just wanted to stay with my approach.”
The Mets scratched one more run across off of Tony Watson in the eighth — bringing his ERA up to 0.98– before going down quietly in the ninth against Mark Melancon (14th save).
Final Score: Pirates 5, Mets 2.
Starters Lines
Worley (W, 2-0): 7 IP, 6 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 3 K’s, 1 HP, 1 HR. 100 Pitches (70 Strikes).
Matsuzaka (L, 6-8): 6 IP, 5 H, 5 R, 5 ER, 4 BB, 4 K’s, 1 WP, 1 HBP, 1 HR. 96 Pitches (55 Strikes).
These two will be back at it tomorrow evening in the second game of a four-game set.
Tomorrow’s Starters
(RHP) Brandon Cumpton (PIT): 3-2, 4.93 ERA
(RHP) Jacob deGrom (NYM): 1-4, 3.75 ERA
First pitch is set for 7:05.
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(Photo Credit: Getty Images)
