Mets Win 5th Straight; Wagner Out Longer Than Expected

Coming off a 2-1 win in the series opener against the Pirates on Friday night, the Mets quickly jumped out to a 4-0 lead against the Bucs and Pitcher Zach Duke tonight. Jose Reyes led off the game with his 13th home run of the year to give the Mets a 1-0 lead. After Nick Evans lined out, David Wright singled. Then, Carlos Beltran doubled to bring home Wright to make it 2-0. After a Carlos Delgado ground out moved Beltran to third, a Fernando Tatis single brought home Beltran to give the Mets a 3-0 lead after one.

In the top of the second, the scoring continued as Pedro Martinez singled after Ramon Castro struck out looking. With Pedro on first, Reyes hit a triple to center on which, he almost lapped Pedro to make the score 4-0 New York. Ramon made amends for his strikeout, when in the 6th; he hit a 2 run homer over the left field wall that also scored Damion Easley who singled. The home run made it 6-0 Mets.

The Pirates cut the deficit to 6-1 when Third Baseman Andy LaRoche hit a solo shot off of Pedro over the left field wall in the bottom of the 7th, but the Mets got the 6 run lead right back in the top of the 8th, when Carlos Delgado scored on a bases load walk.

If you've been following the Mets this season, you know that no win comes easy, and that the bullpen has been very shaky since Wagner has gone on the DL. Tonight was no exception. Leading 7-1, the fun began in the bottom of the 9th. It all started when Eddie Kunz, who hadn't pitched in 6 days came in to face Left Fielder Brandon Moss. Moss greeted Kunz with a single to center. Up next, Right Fielder Steve Pearce who got hit by a pitch. After Pearce, up stepped Shortstop Jack Wilson who doubled in Moss to make the score 7-2. A wild pitch by Kunz created the third run when Pearce scored. Finally, Eddie's Kunz's night was finished when a single by Center Fielder Nate McLouth scored Wilson to make the score 7-4. Kunz was only able to record one out while out there, a ground out back to him by Pinch Hitter Jason Michaels.

Joe Smith came on and tried to relieve Kunz, but he gave up a single to Second Baseman Freddy Sanchez. Not wanting to see another lead get away, Manager Jerry Manuel pulled Smith in favor of Pedro Feliciano. Pedro came in and finally shut the door on the Bucs, as he got Catcher Ryan Doumit to fly out for the second out, and First Baseman Adam LaRoche to ground out to end the ball game.

With the Mets win comes some bad news. Before the start of the game, it was announced by Mets Management that Billy Wagner would not be activated off of the DL on Monday as was expected. He will not come off because while throwing in a simulated game today, he said that while the forearm for which he went on the DL was fine, he felt some soreness in the elbow. That news threw up red flags, and Mets Management said that he would go back to NY for tests. More details to follow as they become available.