Mets 9, Pirates 8
The New York Mets rallied from a seven-run deficit, their biggest comeback in nearly 11 years, and beat the visiting Pittsburgh Pirates 9-8 victory on Thursday afternoon.
Ruben Tejada delivered a go-ahead sacrifice fly in the eighth inning, and Carlos Beltran drove in four runs for the Mets, who rallied from seven runs back to beat Atlanta 11-8 on June 30, 2000. The biggest comeback in franchise history was eight runs against Houston in 1972.
Former Pirate Ronny Paulino started a ninth-inning rally with a base hit to center off reliever Jose Veras (1-2). Pinch runner Willie Harris moved to second on a balk, advanced to third on a wild pitch and scored on a fly ball to medium left-center field.
Jason Isringhausen (1-0) pitched a scoreless eighth for the win, and Francisco Rodriguez yielded an RBI single to Neil Walker in the ninth before notching his 16th save in 17 chances.
The offensively-challenged Pirates belted around Mets starter Mike Pelfrey for seven runs and 10 hits through three innings, highlighted by three singles by Xavier Paul and a mammoth blast well over the bullpen in right-center by Walker. But Pittsburgh starter Paul Maholm couldn’t take advantage of the unaccustomed support, allowing a trio of two-out, runs-scoring hits.
The Mets rallied from a 7-0 deficit with Pelfrey on the mound April 6 this season before losing 10-7.