The Pirates' weak point coming into the season looked to be their bullpen. After a strong showing through the first 4-1/2 weeks of the season, the relief corps suffered its second meltdown in a week Friday night.
The Mets scored five runs off Tyler Yates and Sean Burnett in the eighth inning to snap a 2-2 tie and post a 7-3 victory in the opener of a three-game series in New York. The loss was the Pirates' sixth straight and 10th in 11 games. Friday's loss came four days after top set-up man John Grabow failed to hold a 3-1 lead in the eighth inning Monday night then closer Matt Capps squandered a 4-3 lead in the ninth inning by allowing four runs as Milwaukee rallied for a 7-4 victory. Capps injured his elbow in that game and has been unable to pitch since.
Yates was charged with three of the five runs and the loss, and Burnett, a left-hander, allowed a three-run home run to lefty-hitting Carlos Delgado. Yates, the Pirates' primary set-up man from the right side, has struggled all season and has an 8.71 ERA after 13 appearances.
"We've got to stay focused and keep plugging away," Pirates center fielder Nyjer Morgan said. "It's part of our learning situation."
METS 7, PIRATES 3: Tyler Yates was charged with three runs and Sean Burnett served up a three-run home run to Carlos Delgado in an five-run eighth inning as New York snapped a 2-2 tie and sent the Pirates to their sixth straight loss and 10th in the last 11 games. That spoiled a solid start by Jeff Karstens, who allowed two runs and six hits in seven innings. Nyjer Morgan, Nate McLouth and Brian Bixler had two hits each.
