Pirates give away 7-run lead, lose series finale to Mets

Associated Press

NEW YORK

Neil Walker belted a two-run homer, and every bunt, blooper and bleeder from the rest of the Pirates’ lineup seemed to be landing for a hit.

They had a seven-run lead on the New York Mets by the middle of the third inning.

Then it all went away.

Carlos Beltran’s three-run homer started New York’s rally and Pittsburgh failed to find an answer, watching the Mets pull off their biggest comeback in more than a decade for a brutally disheartening 9-8 loss on Thursday.

“That’s why you play nine innings and that’s what makes the game a challenge,” Pittsburgh manager Clint Hurdle said. “Nothing is a given.”

Beltran homered in the bottom of the third, then hit a leadoff double in the sixth as the Mets scored four times to tie it 7-all. Ruben Tejada delivered a go-ahead sacrifice fly off Jose Veras (1-2) in the eighth and Beltran drew a bases-loaded walk later in the inning.

It was the Mets’ biggest rally to win since June 30, 2000, when they overcame an 8-1 deficit by scoring 10 times in the eighth to beat Atlanta 11-8, according to STATS LLC.

The Mets’ beat-up bullpen hung tough through the final four innings to salvage a split of the four-game series. Jason Isringhausen (1-0) worked the eighth and Francisco Rodriguez overcame an RBI single by Walker in the ninth for his 16th save.

Walker finished with four RBIs, Xavier Paul had a career-high four hits and Andrew McCutchen drove in a pair of runs for the Pirates.

Seven of the first 12 Pittsburgh batters singled off Mike Pelfrey. No. 13 was Walker, whose two-run shot in the second inning sliced through winds gusting up to 35 mph.

The Pirates tacked on another run in the third, when Dusty Brown walked, moved to second on pitcher Paul Maholm’s base hit and scored on Paul’s third single in as many innings.

Maholm allowed six earned runs to snap a string of 13 straight games by Pirates starters with two earned runs or fewer, the longest stretch by a major league team this season and the longest by Pittsburgh since September 1968.

“I lost my rhythm in the sixth and they took advantage of that,” Maholm said.