There was a moment in the first inning of this one when there was a man on base, and Jason Bay hit a ball to deep right center. Andrew McCutchen ended up running about 30 yards (EDIT: epoc says in the comments that it was almost 60 yards, according to the Mets broadcast) to make a spectacular catch to end the threat, but as the ball was hanging in the air, I was worried that it would land and the Mets would get that one run, because if they did, the Pirates' offense would have to score at least two runs to win the game.
As it turns out, the Pirates did find ways to score. Sort of. I felt bad for Mets starter Chris Capuano, who pitched very well for six innings and then got stuck with a ridiculous five-spot in an absurd seventh inning. McCutchen started things off with an infield single, and then Neil Walker laid down a great bunt with the Mets' third baseman playing way back; everyone was safe. (And by the way, the bunt wasn't really a sacrifice but rather a response to conditions on the field. Good play by whoever called it.) Matt Diaz then had another infield single to load the bases. Chris Snyder hit the ball to shortstop and the Mets threw to third. The runner should have been called out by force, but Willie Harris also tagged the runner, which I think confused the ump, who called him safe. Lyle Overbay followed with a single to right that glanced off Angel Pagan's glove. After a Ronny Cedeno strikeout, Xavier Paul pinch-hit and singled to right. Then Jose Tabata grounded into a fielder's choice for an RBI Josh Harrison capped things off with another RBI infield single.
Yes, that's right - that's five infield singles in one inning, plus a couple other lucky breaks. The Pirates added four more runs in the eighth in another long inning, but by that point, they had all they needed. Kevin Correia was the latest Pirates starter to post a quality start, allowing two runs in six innings while striking out four and walking two. Honestly, the Pirates probably won this game on merit. But a whole boatload of luck didn't hurt.
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Just a reminder that I'll be on 104.7 FM after the game.
UPDATE: The radio interview got bumped until later this week. I'll let you know when it will run.
UPDATE: I forgot to mention that Correia's win tonight gave him eight for the season, most in the majors. That's not a statistic I pay a lot of attention to, for obvious reasons, but it's still pretty cool.