BANG FOR THE BUCS
Mets fall as Pirates’ phenom goes deep
PITTSBURGH — With the Mets’ latest crop of their highly touted youngsters suffering growing pains in their transition to the majors, it had to be particularly painful for Terry Collins’ club to watch Gregory Polanco on Thursday night.
The Pirates’ phenom, who has absolutely burst onto the major-league scene and has made it look easy, crushed a three-run home run to right in the bottom of the fifth to power the Pirates to a 5-2 win over the Mets at PNC Park.
“He’s got skills,” Collins said after seeing the 22-year-old outfielder up close. “He’s got good skills. He can run, he’s got big power. We saw it in BP and during the game. He’s a good-looking player.”
The Mets (36-43) lost their second straight, while the Pirates (40-39) improved to 10-6 since Polanco was called up on June 10
A day after young starter Zack Wheeler endured the worst start of his career — right after his best — and three days after catcher Travis d’Arnaud was recalled from a stint at Triple-A, Polanco’s 2-for-3 and four-RBI performance Thursday night was a stark contrast. He is hitting .338 with two homers and 10 RBI. D’Arnaud, meanwhile, continued to find his way back at the plate. He had a single in the seventh to extend his hitting streak to three games.
However, he also was charged with a passed ball that put runners on second and third during the key at-bat by Polanco.
“With the wild pitch the pitch before, it made the situation a little more difficult,” said Mets starter Daisuke Matsuzaka (32), who blamed his lack of control. “I was looking for a ground ball to get the double play and that was no longer an option, so I was going for a strikeout.
“The result ended up being the worst possible result. Really regretful.”
Matsuzaka shook off the changeup that d’Arnaud called for and threw a slider to Polanco. It hung and Polanco drove it about 10 rows into the right field stands.
“I actually shook off d’Arnaud on that pitch, it ended up being a big mistake,” said Matsuzaka, who suffered his second straight loss.
Matsuzaka (3-2) gave up a season-high five runs on five hits, walked four and struck out four in six innings. He put the leadoff hitter on base in the first five of the six innings. In the third, a leadoff walk, a wild pitch and two groundouts gave the Pirates a 1-0 lead. In the fourth, after Lucas Duda had tied the game in the top half with his 12th homer of the season, an opposite-field blast to left, Andrew McCutchen doubled to left — the Pirates’ first hit — to lead off the inning and scored from third as ex-Met Ike Davis got caught stealing while in a rundown between first and second.
The Mets outhit the Pirates but were held to one run over seven innings by Pittsburgh starter Vance Worley (2-0). David Wright extended his hitting streak to 10 games with an RBI double to left in the eighth. “We didn’t have a ton of opportunities to do much. We certainly had some guys on early, but then we hit into double plays and double plays,” Collins said. “We hit the ball pretty good.
“They walked a couple more times than we did.”
GEE’S REHAB: RHP Dillon Gee (right lat strain) will make his second rehab start Sunday for Class A Brooklyn in Coney Island. . . . Juan Lagares (right intercostal) was activated off the disabled list and back in the Mets’ lineup for the first time since June 1. He went 1-for-4. . . . Collins said that the Mets demoted infielder Wilmer Flores to give him a chance to play every day at shortstop and second base. That gives them insurance if they make a trade-deadline move with second baseman Daniel Murphy. Eric Campbell would be the emergency shortstop if Ruben Tejada were to get hurt or ejected. The Mets kept six outfielders when they decided to demote Flores.