Jaso plays hero in win
Didn’t start game, but single in ninth ties score and single in 10th wins it
The flock of New Yorkers gathered behind the visitor’s dugout at PNC Park before the game Saturday serenaded Mets manager Terry Collins, standing nearby, with a song for his 68th birthday. Collins waved and smiled. When the manager walked past the dugout, one fan, feeling his oats, piped up to inform Collins he had lost sleep over this team, the puzzling New York Mets.
“You?” Collins asked, laughing. “You should be on my pillow!”
Collins counted a couple of more gray hairs after a 5-4 loss Saturday night to the Pirates. He ambled to the pitcher’s mound in the 10th inning after reliever Tyler Pill, making his major league debut, loaded the bases with two outs. Collins summoned lefthander Josh Edgin to face the Pirates’ John Jaso, whose scouting report stated he was 1 for 30 against lefties the past two seasons.
Jaso already had tied the score with a pinch-hit single off closer Addison Reed in the ninth, atoning a night full of follies on the bases and at-bat for the Pirates (23-27). In the 10th, Jaso worked a full count, fouling off four pitches, and sat on a fastball. He got one on the ninth pitch from Edgin, roping a walkoff single to right field to complete the come-from-behind win. Off a lefty, no less. “Yeah, how about that?” Jaso said.
As he readied for his postgame interview near the Pirates dugout, he saw Josh Harrison readying the Powerade cooler and wagged his finger, saying, “You’re not getting sugar in these dreads.” And so when Andrew McCutchen interrupted the interview, he stopped short, set the cooler down and handed a paper cup to Jaso. They toasted and poured water over their heads.
“Cutch knows,” Jaso said, grinning. “He was a dread guy.”
In his second consecutive start batting sixth in the lineup, McCutchen doubled, homered, walked and was hit by a pitch. In his other at-bat, he flied out to the warning track in center field, one of a handful of sensational catches by the Mets’ Juan Lagares in the game’s late innings. McCutchen drove in the first three Pirates runs but also made a costly blunder on the bases.
“It was a good night,” manager Clint Hurdle said. “A night he can build upon.”
The Pirates had the tying run at third base in the sixth, seventh and ninth.
In the sixth, McCutchen was tagged out at the plate after trying to score from second base on an infield single to shortstop, mistakenly thinking Asdrubal Cabrera would throw to first base. In the seventh, Josh Bell grounded out with runners at the corners. In the ninth, Jaso poked a pinch-hit single the other way, scoring Jordy Mercer, who doubled and advanced on a wild pitch.
Right-hander Gerrit Cole was hit hard for the second consecutive start. In five innings, he gave up four runs on 10 hits, including solo home runs to Jay Bruce, Travis d’Arnaud and Lucas Duda. Cole has allowed 12 home runs this season, already a career-high.
“Obviously, too many mistakes,” Cole said. “Too many balls leaving the park.”
Cole was not good, but the Pirates were still in striking distance when he departed. The deficit could have — perhaps should have — been worse. The Mets (20-27) stranded two runners on base in four of his five innings. In three instances, they marooned a pair of men in scoring position.
“Bent but didn’t break,” Cole said. “Didn't make mistakes in those situations. Made mistakes leading up to those situations, and fortunately was able to execute to keep them at one.”
Cole, frustrated at his overall execution, allowed no crooked numbers on the scoreboard. Since seven of the Mets’ 10 hits against Cole went for extra bases, their three runs appeared puny.
“Without his best stuff, he just had to roll up his sleeves and do the best with what he had and where he was,” Hurdle said of Cole, who allowed five runs in 4⅓ innings Monday. “The last two outings have been a challenge. You’re going to have those as you go through a 35-start season from time to time.”
The Pirates bullpen had Cole’s back. Wade LeBlanc, Juan Nicasio and Felipe Rivero combined for four perfect innings, taking the game to extras, and closer Tony Watson pitched a scoreless 10th.