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Pirates score three in ninth to edge Mets

Aug 11, 2008 - 11:26 PM By Larry Fleisher PA SportsTicker Contributing Writer

FLUSHING, New York (Ticker) -- Ryan Doumit and Steve Pearce atoned for their earlier mistakes and left New York Mets manager Jerry Manuel searching for a solution to his bullpen woes.

Doumit hit a game-tying single with one out in the ninth inning and Pearce snapped the tie with a two-out, two-run single later in the frame as the Pittsburgh Pirates rallied for a 7-5 victory over the Mets on Monday afternoon.

David Wright hit a three-run home run and Robinson Cancel added his first career home run for the Mets (62-56), who wrapped up a 4-3 homestand and fell 2 1/2 games behind the Philadelphia Phillies (64-53) in the National League East. Philadelphia visits Los Angeles Monday.

Doumit drove in three runs and former Met Doug Mientkiewicz added two RBI for Pittsburgh, which concluded a 3-7 road trip by winning the make-up game from April.

For six innings, the Pirates might have been playing one of their worst games of the season. Doumit and Pearce factored into that when Pittsburgh fell behind, 3-0, just three batters into the contest. Doumit made one of three Pittsburgh errors when he dropped a perfect relay throw from center fielder Nate McLouth that allowed Carlos Delgado to score on Cancel's single in the third.

"It kind of made up for it a little bit but that play was inexcusable," Doumit said. "A perfect throw from Nate, I make the tag and he's out, the suspense wouldn't be there in the eighth and ninth."

Two innings later, Pearce came up with two out and the bases loaded against Mets starter Pedro Martinez and popped up the first pitch he saw.

"My real big at-bat was probably with the bases loaded and the second at-bat and the pop-up," Pearce said. "I got on a pitch. I was sitting dead-red fastball on first pitch, got it, popped it up."

However, Pearce and Doumit made amends and helped the Pirates rally from a 5-1 deficit. Freddy Sanchez sparked a three-run seventh with an RBI double, Mientkiewicz added a run-scoring single and Doumit capped the frame with a sacrifice fly that cut the lead to 5-4.

Mets reliever Aaron Heilman (2-7) entered in the ninth and gave up a single to Luis Rivas and walked Mientkiewicz before Doumit ripped a game-tying RBI single to right field. Heilman was lifted after he hit Andy LaRoche with a pitch that loaded the bases. Scott Schoeneweis entered and recorded an out before leaving a 3-2 pitch up to Pearce, who lined a two-run single to center field.

It was another meltdown for a bullpen that is sorely missing closer Billy Wagner, who is on the disabled list with a strained left forearm. The ineffective bullpen wasted a solid effort from Martinez, who allowed one run and three hits in six innings, but was denied his first win since July 7.

"It's been tough to have an entire bullpen struggle at the same time and you don't have a closer," Schoeneweis said. "We're not picking each other up."

"I probably need to make some adjustments," said Manuel, who was ejected in the ninth for arguing balls and strikes. "We can't continue to perform that way in the game. We got to be better than that. I got to figure out what I have and who is willing to step up in those roles. I got to use all my options that I have."

The comeback made a winner out of Denny Bautista (4-1), who struck out the side in the eighth and fanned Wright with two on to end the frame. John Grabow allowed a leadoff single to Carlos Beltran in the ninth, but struck out Delgado and got Fernando Tatis to hit into a double play to record his second save of the season.