Maholm, Pirates douse Mets' party, 5-3
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They could be spotted throughout Downtown all afternoon, seated at lunch counters, strolling by the riverbanks and snapping photos by the PPG water fountains. A foreign legion of baseball fans sporting blue and orange had descended, hoping to participate in the New York Mets' first celebration of a division title since 1988.
Apparently, the Pirates were not feeling quite so festive.
Not even after Paul Maholm's seven impeccable innings, Jason Bay's three RBIs and Salomon Torres' strike-out-the-side save put down the Mets, 5-3, last night and prevented them from leaping and laughing about PNC Park.
Any special satisfaction?
"It doesn't matter right now what the other team does," Bay said. "We just need to keep playing the way we are."
"We weren't worried about the Mets," Torres said. "They're going to the playoffs no matter what. Let's focus on what the Pirates need to do to just keep getting better."
The Mets' magic number remained at one to take the East Division, thanks to the second-place Philadelphia Phillies' 4-3 victory in Houston later in the night.
And the Pirates? As Torres put it, they just keep getting better.
Their 31-27 record since the All-Star break provides the most telling sign. Another is that they have not lost two in a row since Aug. 26-27.
A less obvious indicator, perhaps, is the increasingly cool reaction they have to outcomes such as this one. Early in the season, there would be a palpable sense of extra reward when they would beat a contender.
Now?
There still is some of that ...
"It's a great game for us to win," manager Jim Tracy said. "With the caliber of that team and what they've done ... we did a terrific job."
But not nearly as much ...
"Look, we know they're the best team in baseball," shortstop Jack Wilson said. "But we're also finding out that, when we play good baseball, it's enough to beat anybody."
Probably one-third of the 24,410 in attendance were pulling for New York, but Maholm silenced that portion and New York's formidable lineup from the outset.
Keith Srakocic, Associated PressNew York Mets manager Willie Randolph restrains catcher Paul Lo Duca from going after home plate umpire Jeff Kellogg. Lo Duca was upset about a third strike call in the fifth.
Click photo for larger image.
Matchup: Pirates (Tom Gorzelanny 2-3) vs. Mets (Orlando Hernandez 10-10), 7:05 p.m.
Where: PNC Park
Radio: KDKA-AM (1020) and Pirates Radio Network.
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LAST GAME: Sanchez went 1 for 3 against the Mets last night.
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Freddy Sanchez,Pirates.340
Matt Holliday,Rockies.335
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He was far from perfect, walking three and hitting three, but he kept command throughout in limiting the Mets to one run and two hits.
"Paul pitched very effectively," Tracy said. "He had his good curve going, a sinker, and he worked hitters inside and out. You have to pitch that way against a lineup like that."
Maholm said he fed off two strong performances earlier in the year at Shea Stadium, where he held the Mets to two runs over 12 innings.
"That gave me some confidence," he said. "I was able to make them hit my pitch and get them to hit the ball on the ground when I needed it."
No kidding: The Mets sent only three balls to the outfield against Maholm.
It was his fourth consecutive victory and improved his record to 8-10.
New York ace Pedro Martinez, predictably rusty after missing a month because of a strained calf, lost to the Pirates for the first time since July 23, 1996. He labored through three innings, giving up four runs and six hits, a walk, a hit batsman and a wild pitch.
"When you come off so many days without throwing the ball, you want to make a statement," Martinez said. "I wanted to do a little bit better."
Bay's two-run double to the left-field corner in the first got it going.
The Pirates would make the score 4-0 in the third when, after two outs, Ryan Doumit ripped a ball off the fence in right-center to plate Freddy Sanchez. Ronny Paulino drove in Doumit with a shot through the left side.
New York got one back in the fifth on Jose Reyes' RBI single, but Maholm stranded runners at the corners by freezing Paul Lo Duca with a 1-2 fastball to quash his only serious threat.
Bay put the Pirates ahead, 5-1, in the seventh with a solo smash against Heath Bell. He rammed an elevated fastball well beyond the North Side Notch -- the deepest part of the park -- to raise his home run total to 33 and his RBI total to 104.
Asked if it was as hard as he had struck a ball all summer, Bay replied, "Sounded like it."
John Grabow gave up two in the eighth when Reyes drove in another run with a triple, then scored on a groundout.
That left Torres to protect a two-run lead in the ninth, which he did by striking out three around a Cliff Floyd single for his eighth save.
By the time he caught Jose Valentin looking at a splitter on the outside corner to end it, the crowd was standing and roaring.
Most of it, anyway.
First Published September 16, 2006 12:00 am
