Correia Unravels Late As Pirates Lose 7-0 To Mets
PITTSBURGH (KDKA/AP) -- Kevin Correia was again going for a chance at what would have been a major league best nine wins, but home cooking has not gone well for the Pirates pitcher who is 7-1 on the road and now 1-4 at home.
But the real culprit on Sunday afternoon at PNC Park was once again a complete lack of offense in a 7-0 loss to the New York Mets.
Correia (8-5) retired the first 14 batters he faced, but unraveled late.
For the Mets, Chris Capuano (5-6) allowed three hits and two walks with five strikeouts to win consecutive starts for the first time since April 2007.
Jose Reyes had three hits for his majors-leading 33rd multi-hit game, homering two pitches after pinch-hitter Scott Hairston also did in the ninth. David Murphy and Angel Pagan went 2 for 4 and Carlos Beltran had a two-run single for New York, which has won six of eight.
The Pirates' Andrew McCutchen had two hits, extending his hitting streak to 11 games.
The game was scoreless through six innings, and then the Mets scored one in the seventh and four in the eighth.
Former Pirate Jason Bay hit a sacrifice fly for the game's first run in the seventh - though Pittsburgh doubled off Angel Pagan because he didn't step on second on his way back to first.
The Mets made any potential controversy moot with the help of six consecutive two-out hits in the eighth.
Correia gave up a single to pinch-hitter Willie Harris. Reyes singled and Justin Turner hit an RBI double before Beltran's two-run single off of Chris Resop. Daniel Moskos came on, and Murphy and Pagan singled. The latter hit drove in pinch-runner Jason Pridie.
Another odd play happened in the bottom of the seventh. Lyle Overbay led off with a fly to the center field wall. Pagan leaped to catch it, but fireworks that typically follow a Pirates home run at PNC Park went off.
It clearly was not a home run - replays, however, brought into doubt whether Pagan caught the ball or trapped it after it bounced off the wall.
"I thought he caught it," said Overbay. "The way he kind of caught it, and it was kind of surprising that he caught it, might have thrown you off a little bit, but I can't fault him for not calling it."
Pirates manager Clint Hurdle came out to argue, and he was ultimately ejected - by two umpires. Jerry Layne was "credited" with the ejection, as his signal came a moment before Bob Davidson's.
Correia retired the first 14 batters he faced before Bay's two-out single through the left side of the infield in the fifth. He ultimately was charged with four runs on seven hits in 7 2-3 innings.
"I threw a great game through 7 2-3, and then the game kind of got away from me at the end. But you know, Capuano threw an equally good game. It was tough," said Correia. "It was just one of those games we never really got it going offensively, and then once they scored a run, the flood gates just kind of opened."
Correia also had the Pirates' only extra-base hit of the game, a two-out double, in the bottom of that inning.
Capuano, who missed the 2008 and '09 seasons while going through Tommy John surgery and rehabilitation, retired the final seven batters he faced. He has allowed one earned run or fewer in three of his past four starts.
Jason Isringhausen and Bobby Parnell each pitched an inning to finish off the shutout, the Mets' fourth this season.
The Pirates and Mets finish off their four-game series Monday at 7:05 p.m.
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