NEW YORK ? The Pirates could not hold an early two-run lead today and were throttled, 8-4, by the New York Mets.
It's the Pirates' eighth consecutive loss. The Mets have won seven in a row. Nate McLouth had a sacrifice fly in the first inning. In the third, Robinzon Diaz's single scored McLouth to make it 2-0.
But the Mets scored three runs in the fourth against Ian Snell (1-5). David Wright had an RBI single and Omir Santos hit a two-run single.
Snell worked six innings and gave up three runs on six hits. He walked one and struck out five.
New York scored an unearned run in the seventh against lefty reliever Sean Burnett. Gary Sheffield reached on a fielding blunder by shortstop Brian Bixler and came home on Luis Castillo's single up the middle.
The Mets scored four runs in the eighth against reliever John Grabow.
Grabow has been scored upon in five straight outings. In that span, he's allowed 11 runs (10 earned) in 4 2/3 innings.
The Pirates had 11 hits against righty Livan Hernandez (3-1) and three relievers. McLouth hit a two-run homer in the ninth.
