Glavine baffles Bucs for 279th career win

The Mets ace allowed three hits and struck out 10 over seven innings.
NEW YORK (AP) -- Pitching with the savvy accumulated in 19 major league seasons, Tom Glavine baffled the young Pittsburgh Pirates with an assortment of off-speed pitches in a 6-0 victory Thursday night. He allowed three hits and struck out 10 over seven innings for the 279th victory of his career.
Afterward, he considered his condition and decided it wasn't too bad for a 40-year-old.
"I feel good physically," he said. "Everything's comfortable. You should pitch well when that's the case. It's fun. I enjoy pitching. There's a bunch of things I can do to get guys out. It's a continuation comfort-wise of where I was the second part of last season."
It was anything but comfortable for the Pirates, who didn't have a hit until the fifth inning. Manager Jim Tracy marveled at the left-hander's performance.
"Tommy Glavine used his changeup very well, very effectively," Tracy said. "He threw it in hitter's counts."
Won't give in to hitter
That's one of Glavine's secrets. He won't give in, no matter what. In the sixth inning, with New York leading 1-0, Pittsburgh loaded the bases on a couple of errors and Glavine fell behind Craig Wilson 3-0.
"I'd rather walk in a run there than give up a double," Glavine said. "On 3-1, they're more aggressive. I try to feed off their aggression."
Break game open
Glavine forced the count to 3-2 and then Wilson flied out, ending the threat. An inning later, the Mets scored five runs, three on a home run by Xavier Nady, to break the game open.
Nady drove in four runs and David Wright had four hits, one night after ending an 0-for-17 skid.
It was Glavine's second double-digit strikeout game in seven starts this year. He lowered his ERA to 1.94.
"The strikeouts are a little abnormal for me," Glavine said. "I'd rather use one pitch and get a groundball. Strikeouts are too hard. I was able to locate and use my changeup on both sides of the plate."
Glavine (4-2) was especially sharp early, retiring the first 12 Pirates in order, striking out seven. Then he pitched his way out of bases-loaded jams in the fifth and sixth.
He got some breathing room in the seventh when Nady hit a three-run homer. Duaner Sanchez and Jorge Julio completed the four-hitter, New York's second shutout this season. Sanchez pushed his scoreless streak to 22 innings dating to last year with the Dodgers -- including 19 this season.
Bay breaks up no-hit bid
Jason Bay broke up Glavine's no-hit bid with a two-strike single to right leading off the fifth.
After Jeromy Burnitz struck out, Wilson beat out an infield hit. The runners advanced on an infield out and, after Jose Castillo was intentionally walked to load the bases, Glavine struck out pitcher Paul Maholm, ending the inning.
Then Glavine escaped bases-loaded trouble in the sixth when he got Wilson on a fly ball.
The Mets took the lead in the third against Maholm (1-4) when they loaded the bases with no outs on singles by Paul Lo Duca and Wright sandwiched around a walk to Carlos Beltran.
Nady walked, forcing in the game's first run. But Maholm recovered, retiring the next three batters to leave the bases loaded.
Copyright 2006 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.