Pittsburgh Pirates starting pitcher Jeff Locke took his medicine last start allowing 11 runs in 4.2 innings and a similar fate awaited him Wednesday night in an 11-2 loss to the New York Mets.
After a stretch in which Locke (5-5) was the most dominant pitcher, his last two starts have his ERA at 5.92.
Locke lasted four innings in this game allowing seven runs on nine hits.
Three of those runs were allowed in the first inning. Each of the first three batters reached base before Wilmer Flores hit an RBI ground out and Matt Reynolds brought two home with a double.
A Kelly Johnson solo home run in the third inning extended the Mets lead.
It appeared Locke had some momentum retorting the Mets in order in the fourth inning, but that did not prove to be the case.
Each of the first three batters reached base in the fifth inning with one of the hits, a single, striking Starling Marte in the eye off a bounce. Marte attempted to make a diving catch and was removed from the game as a precaution.
The last of the three hits, a Flores RBI single, forced Pirates manager Clint Hurdle to come get the ball from his starting pitcher.
With Arquimedes Caminero in the game, Johnson and Rene Rivera each had RBI singles to stretch the Mets lead to 7-0.
Rob Scahill entered the game in the sixth inning and was greeted with a three-run frame. Flores hit a two-run home run, his second homer of the season, and James Loney added an RBI double.
After Rivera hit another RBI single, this time off Cory Luebke, the Pirates entered the ninth inning with no runs to their name in the game. The Pirates had not been shutout all season.
Mets manager Terry Collins left his starter Noah Syndergaard (7-2) in the game to try and get a shutout but this did not work out.
John Jaso led the inning off with his 12th double of the season and advanced to third base on a Gregory Polanco ground out.
When pinch-hitter David Freese added a double, also his 12th of the season, the season-long streak of not being shutout continued.
The hit also knocked Syndergaard out of the game and Mets closer Jeurys Familia ended up finishing the game.
Jung Ho Kang added a second run when he reached base by error.
It was another day to forget for Andrew McCutchen, who moved back to his familiar third spot in the lineup. The center fielder went 0-for-3 with two strikeouts dropping his batting average down to .234.
McCutchen is now 0-for-17 and was lifted in the sixth inning. Sean Rodriguez served as his defensive replacement.
Up next
Juan Nicasio (5-5, 5.34 ERA) faces Bartolo Colon (5-3, 3.08 ERA). Nicasio is 3-1 with a 3.98 ERA in six total appearances (three starts) against the Mets.
Photo credit: @Pirates
