Didn’t hurt that the Pirates ran into the perfect opponent, too – a team struggling even worse than they were.
Josh Bell hit a two-run homer, Gregory Polanco also went deep and Pittsburgh took advantage of some dreadful defense by the New York Mets to snap a five-game losing streak with a 6-4 victory Monday night.
”If it’s broken you have to fix it, right?” said Bell, who batted second. ”Changing things up. It might have been the spark that we needed.”
In a series opener between tumbling teams, Pittsburgh built a five-run cushion for Jameson Taillon and held on to hand the Mets their seventh straight defeat before a mostly quiet crowd of 22,135. New York (31-45) is 6-24 in its last 30 games – and that 11-1 start to the season feels like ancient history.
Playing at home has hardly helped. The reeling Mets, with the fewest wins in the National League, have lost 14 of 15 at Citi Field, falling to 13-25 in their own ballpark this season.
”It’s tough,” rookie manager Mickey Callaway said. ”We need to start playing better baseball to win some games.”
After totaling only eight runs during their skid, the Pirates shuffled the first three hitters in their batting order. Leadoff man Starling Marte stole two bases and scored three times as Pittsburgh, which was in first place on May 17, won for only the 11th time in 35 games.
”We’re just looking for anything to kick-start us. Different guys hitting in different spots, maybe getting some different pitches to hit,” Taillon said. ”So I think it was fun. I think it was good to mix things up. If you do the same thing over and over, you’re crazy. So we mix it and we got some results.”
Taillon (5-6) took a two-hit shutout into the seventh inning against a makeshift Mets lineup before New York tried to rally. Consecutive doubles by Jose Reyes and Kevin Plawecki chased Taillon, and a three-run homer by pinch-hitter Wilmer Flores off Tyler Glasnow trimmed Pittsburgh’s lead to 5-4.
Steven Brault entered and threw seven straight balls before recovering to strike out Jose Bautista on a pitch in the dirt. Brault then got Asdrubal Cabrera to ground into an inning-ending double play.
Cabrera also committed an earlier error at second base.
Kyle Crick pitched out of trouble in the eighth , and Elias Diaz provided an insurance run with a sacrifice fly in the ninth. Felipe Vazquez struck out the side for his 15th save in 19 attempts.
”That’s the way you’re looking for your closer to finish the game,” Hurdle said. ”That’s as good as he’s pitched all season.”
Two errors in the first three innings by rookie third baseman Luis Guillorme – touted as a slick fielder – led directly to a pair of unearned runs against Mets starter Seth Lugo (2-3).
”Didn’t make the plays,” Guillorme said. ”I should be able to play anywhere they put me.”
Josh Harrison hit a sacrifice fly in the first Authentic Fred Warner Jersey , Polanco had a solo homer in the second and Diaz delivered a two-out RBI single in the third.
It was only the second home run since May 12 for Polanco, who came off the bench the previous three days.
Bell sliced a two-run shot into the left-field corner in the sixth, his first homer since May 31 at St. Louis. Bell has three homers in four career games at Citi Field, where Pittsburgh has won 11 of its last 16.
”Everyone contributed something,” Hurdle said. ”Marte has the ability to change a game up top, just to really get you going.”
In the wake of Arizona’s four-game sweep at Pittsburgh last weekend, Hurdle spoke to his team.
”I felt we just needed as a group to recommit to some things,” he said.
ROSTER MOVE
Needing a fresh arm in the bullpen, the Mets recalled RHP Tyler Bashlor from Double-A Binghamton and optioned RHP Chris Flexen to Triple-A Las Vegas. The 25-year-old Bashlor made his major league debut in the sixth and worked two innings, giving up Bell’s two-run homer.
DOWN ON THE FARM
Pirates minor leaguer Oddy Nunez pitched a rain-shortened no-hitter Sunday for Class A Bradenton in the Florida State League. Nunez struck out six and walked two over eight innings in a 5-0 win against Fort Myers.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Mets: OF Brandon Nimmo didn’t start because of a sore right pinkie after getting hit by a pitch Sunday. But an MRI showed no broken bones and he is day to day. ”Real good news,” a relieved Callaway said. Nimmo entered as a pinch-runner in the eighth and stayed in the game to play left field. … Flores and 3B Todd Frazier were rested. Frazier lined out to center field as a pinch-hitter. … 3B David Wright (shoulder, back) took batting practice and grounders on the field.
UP NEXT
Pirates RHP Chad Kuhl (5-5, 4.56 ERA) starts Tuesday night against LHP Steven Matz (3-5, 3.68).
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The Latest on the NFL conference championships. (all times local):
4:28 p.m.
Jacksonville has taken a 14-10 lead at halftime of the AFC championship.
The Jaguars were up 14-3 after an early touchdown pass from Blake Bortles to Marcedes Lewis and a run by Leonard Fournette.
Just before the half, Tom Brady led the Patriots on a six-play, 85-yard drive that included two Jacksonville penalties. The drive ended with a 1-yard touchdown run by James White .
Bortles completed 13 of 15 passes for 155 yards in the half. Brady was 12 of 17 for 124 yards.
The last three times the Patriots have trailed by double digits in a playoff game, they came back to win.
– Kyle Hightower, reporting from Foxborough, Massachusetts
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4:25 p.m.
Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski is being looked at after a hard hit from Barry Church left him wobbly.
Gronkowski was running downfield on a passing route, looking back for the ball, when Church put a shoulder into him late in the second quarter. The 6-foot-6 Authentic Tarvarius Moore Jersey , 265-pound All-Pro tight end seemed shaken, and he left the field. He did not return for the remainder of the drive, which was New England’s last in the first half.
There was no immediate announcement from the team about his condition.
Church was called for an unnecessary roughness penalty that gave the Patriots the ball at their own 40. A pass interference penalty on the next play put New England on the 13. Two plays later, James White ran it in to make it 14-10.
Jacksonville was also called for a delay of game that negated a first-down completion on their previous possession. In all, the Jaguars the Jaguars had five penalties for 62 yards in the first half; the Patriots had one for 10 yards.
– Jimmy Golen reporting from Foxborough, Massachusetts.
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4 p.m.
Leonard Fournette has given the Jacksonville Jaguars a 14-3 lead over the heavily favored New England Patriots in the AFC championship game.
Fournette bulled his way into the end zone from 4 yards out midway through the second quarter . He carried the ball five times for 23 yards on the 10-play, 77-yard drive.
Fournette ran for 103 yards and three touchdowns in last week’s divisional round playoff victory over the Pittsburgh Steelers. He is the first NFL rookie to surpass 100 yards rushing with three scores in a postseason game.
Fournette was limited in practice all week with a sore ankle. He was also involved in a fender-bender back in Jacksonville, but was not injured.
– Jimmy Golen reporting from Foxborough, Massachusetts.
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3:45 p.m.
The Jacksonville Jaguars have taken the lead early in the second quarter of the AFC title game.
Blake Bortles found Marcedes Lewis wide open in the end zone from 4 yards out to give the Jags a 7-3 lead. Bortles was 5 for 5 for 66 yards on the drive.
Running back Corey Grant caught two passes for 44 yards on the 76-yard drive. He had only 41 total receiving yards during the season.
Tom Brady’s only comeback wins in an AFC championship were from a four-point deficit against Baltimore after the 2011 season and a three-point deficit against San Diego after the ’07 season. The Patriots also rallied from a four-point hole against Miami en route to the 1986 Super Bowl.
– Jimmy Golen reporting from Foxborough, Massachusetts.
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3:20 p.m.
Tom Brady’s injured right hand looked fine on the Patriots’ opening drive in the AFC title game.
Brady was 6-for-6 for 57 yards on New England’s first possession against the Jacksonville Jaguars. He completed a 20-yarder to Danny Amendola on a fourth-and-1 to keep the drive going. But the Patriots settled for Stephen Gostkowski’s 31-yard field goal to take a 3-0 lead.
Brady reportedly injured his right hand and needed stitches when it was hit by a teammate’s helmet in practice. The five-time Super Bowl champion took the field on Sunday with a piece of black tape on the back of his hand.
The Patriots are in the conference championship game for the seventh straight year. They are hoping to go to their eighth Super Bowl of the Brady era.
– Jimmy Golen reporting from Foxborough, Massachusetts.
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2:45 p.m.
New England Patriots owner Bob Kraft says the team needs to guard against ”jealousy and envy” from people who are trying to tear apart one of the most successful dynasties in NFL history.
Speaking on the pregame show before the Patriots played the Jacksonville Jaguars in the AFC championship game, Kraft said it’s only natural there would be some tension between him and coach Bill Belichick after 18 years together. Kraft says, ”But when you’ve got something good going, everyone’s got to get their egos checked in and try to hold it together.”
ESPN reported this month that Kraft essentially vetoed Belichick’s plan to set backup Jimmy Garoppolo up as the successor to five-time Super Bowl champion Tom Brady. Instead, the Patriots traded Garoppolo to San Francisco for a second-round draft pick.
– Jimmy Golen reporting from Foxborough, Massachusetts.
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2:35 p.m.
The Super Bowl matchup will be set after conference title games featuring three teams that have never won the big game.
The other participant is a five-time Super Bowl winner, the New England Patriots.
The Patriots and Tom Brady, nursing an injured right hand, start conference championship Sunday playing host to the Jacksonville Jaguars and quarterback Blake Bortles.
The night game with