Mets 6, Pirates 2
Mike Pelfrey tossed seven strong innings and drove in the go-ahead run as the New York Mets completed a four-game sweep of the Pittsburgh Pirates with a 6-2 victory on Thursday.
Rookie Lucas Duda drove in two runs in the first multi-hit game of his career and Angel Pagan chipped in three hits and two RBIs for the Mets, who pulled above .500 to 74-73.
Pelfrey (15-9) surrendered two runs on six hits while walking four and striking out four to earn his second straight win. The right-hander also made his presence felt at the plate, knocking an RBI double off Sean Gallagher to plate Duda, who had doubled off Wil Ledezma (0-3).
Duda entered Thursday with just one hit in his first 33 major league at-bats and flied out in the second before coming up with two runners on in the fourth and New York trailing, 2-0. Duda turned on a 1-1 offering from Charlie Morton and sent it into right field for the second and third RBIs of his young career.
Pittsburgh had a chance to turn the game in its favor in the fourth when Garrett Jones and Pedro Alvarez led off with back-to-back singles, but Pagan made a sprawling catch on the warning track in center field off John Bowker’s fly ball and doubled Alvarez off first.
The Mets added a run in the seventh and two more in the eighth to put it away.