2. Offense does next to nothing.

3. Bullpen gives it up late.

Tyler Yates gave up a tiebreaking single to New York's Carlos Beltran in the eighth inning, Sean Burnett then gave up Carlos Delgado's three-run home run, and the Pirates went on to lose their sixth in a row, 7-3, to the Mets last night in their first visit to the new Citi Field.

"We were playing well. We were battling," Yates said. "This hurts a lot."

That was evident: Burnett was visibly furious, kicking at his stall, snapping off sharp words into a towel in a vain attempt to hide his emotions.

Not a happy place.

"We had opportunities," manager John Russell said. "Things just aren't clicking."

And the attitude?

"The attitude's fine," Russell said. "We're pretty much as upbeat as you can be, still coming to the ballpark with a focus. We're still pitching well, playing good D. We just need our bats to get going."

That most assuredly did not happen in this one.

The offense, such as it is, squeezed out two runs over six innings against Jon Niese, a 22-year-old left-hander freshly promoted from the minors, where he was 0-2 with a 6.55 ERA for Class AAA Buffalo.

In all, the Pirates had nine hits, two for extra bases, including a gift double for Nate McLouth that plopped between two outfielders. And, over these six losses, they have scored just 16 runs and batted .199 with three home runs.

"The numbers speak for themselves," third baseman Andy LaRoche said. "We haven't been getting runners on. And, when we do, we haven't been driving them in. We've got to start doing little things right."

Russell reiterated his view that the team's approach remains solid, but Niese, who had walked eight batters in 22 minor league innings, walked none last night. And the Pirates pushed him to a three-ball count only four times.

Moreover, as LaRoche indicated, they are doing little in key at-bats: In the sixth, with the score tied, 2-2, there were two aboard with one out, and Brandon Moss struck out swinging over a meaty Niese fastball and Robinzon Diaz lined out. The next inning, with two aboard and one out again, Freddy Sanchez flied out, and McLouth grounded out.

Moss, who is looking increasingly like a candidate for a demotion to Class AAA Indianapolis, is now 3 for 26 with runners on base, 1 for 15 with runners in scoring position and, thanks to his current hitless streak of 10 at-bats, .185 overall.

The lone bright spot was a rare solid start for Jeff Karstens, who held New York to two runs and seven hits over six innings. The Mets tagged him in the first on Delgado's two-run single, but that was it. No walks, no home runs and, thus, nothing like his previous three starts that had put his place in the rotation in serious jeopardy.

"My last start was a reality check," Karstens said of giving up five runs in as many innings to the Cincinnati Reds in a 5-0 loss. "I knew that if I didn't improve, I wasn't going to be here. I went home and looked myself in the mirror. I knew there were a lot more things I could do by coming in early. I did more this week than I'd done previously."

Yates, now owner of a staff-worst 8.71 ERA, had set down the Mets in the seventh, but, with the score 2-2 entering the eighth, Jose Reyes led off by lashing a single to center.

Luis Castillo tried to bunt Reyes over but, instead, drew a four-pitch walk.

Beltran, batting a spectacular .377, then dropped a ball just over the head of LaRoche for an RBI single to put the Mets ahead. Burnett relieved, and Delgado greeted him by launching his 1-1 slider high and deep beyond right-center, deepest part of the park, to make it 6-2.

Today

?Game: Pirates (Maholm 3-0) vs. Mets (Maine 2-2), 7:10 p.m.

?Where: Citi Field, New York.

?TV: FSN Pittsburgh.