PITTSBURGH (93.7 The Fan) – It had the energy of a late 80s, early 90s Mets-Pirates matchup and including the benches clearing near brawl.
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Pirates took the lead on a 2-out, 2-run single by Adam Frazier in the second inning, that was a batter after the game resumed from a 39 minute rain delay.
Mets got an unearned run in the fourth and following the excitement of the fifth inning, Wilmer Difo hit a no-doubter home run in the sixth and Bryan Reynolds with a 431 foot shot in the eighth to give the Bucs the 4-1 win.
“Good win coming out of the break,” Shelton said. “Guys got after it and played hard.”
Kuhl effort
Chad Kuhl would walk five and give up a pair of hits but a couple of double plays helped limit the damage to just one run allowed. Kuhl is 3-1 in his last 5 starts allowing 6 earned over 27.1 innings.
“Restart of play, had back-to-back walks. Just wasn’t comfortable getting back in the game. Hadn’t thrown for about an hour. It was one of those awkward rain delays where I knew how I could prepare myself.”
“He was able to compete, execute pitches, get double plays. I think really shows a growth moment for him.”
Bednar rolls on
Right-handed reliever David Bednar continues to lead all rookie relief pitchers in the National League making his 40th appearance of the season. Bednar walked one and struck out another. The Mars grad helped by a Newman flip to Frazier, who caught it bare-handed for a force play. Bednar is 2-1 with a 3.00 ERA, 43 strikeouts in 38 innings.
Newman errorless streak ends
He had gone a club record 76 consecutive games without an error until misplaying a Jeff McNeil grounder in the fourth. It goes down as the longest streak in National League history, 76 errorless games to begin a season.
“The fact he went 76 games at shortstop, that is fairly amazing given the amount of chances he had,” Shelton said. “It got broken up on a really challenging play, the fact that he’s on the other side of the bag with a runner at first on a tough ball.”
Newman would come back to make a couple of challenging plays as the game wore on. Shelton as much impressed with that.
“It didn’t affect him,” Shelton said. “It shows how hard he’s worked on his defense that he didn’t let one play dictate his play.”
Newman falls a game short of the longest errorless streak overall by a shortstop since Jhonny Peralta with the Cardinals in 2015. The longest streak without an error to begin a MLB season was Cleveland’s Omar Vizquel, 89 games in 2000.
Injury updates
· Gregory Polanco ran the bases on Friday
· Colin Moran and Erik Gonzalez are still a little bit away
· Duane Underwood, Jr. threw a bullpen Thursday, inching his way back
Up Next
Pirates honor the 1971 World Championship Pirates Saturday at 7:05 on 93.7 The Fan as RHP Wil Crowe (1-5, 6.05 ERA) faces Mets RHP Tylor Megill (0-0, 3.50 ERA)