Mets pitcher the Maine attraction
NEW YORK — Fans at Shea Stadium are accustomed to seeing John Maine pitch well. It took a home run for the Mets' best starter to get a curtain call.
Maine's two-run homer, which capped a four-run fourth inning, was pretty much the only surprising thing about his performance Tuesday night. He struck out seven in seven innings to lead New York to an 8-4 win over the woeful Pittsburgh Pirates.
Maine (11-5) leads the Mets in wins and strikeouts, and his ERA of 3.04 is second only to Oliver Perez's 3.00 among New York's starters. He won for the first time since the All-Star break, allowing an RBI double to Xavier Nady, a solo homer to Jason Bay in the fourth, and scattering three other hits.
"John just gets better and better," Mets manager Willie Randolph said.
The Pirates, meanwhile, are bad and getting worse. Despite two homers from Bay, they lost for the ninth time in 10 games.
Pittsburgh is among the worst in the major leagues in on-base percentage, walks and slugging percentage, and Pirates hitters didn't show much patience Tuesday night. Despite combining for 12 runs and 20 hits, the game lasted a mere 2 hours, 22 minutes.
"This is to take nothing away from John Maine, but we're just not hitting the ball," Pirates manager Jim Tracy said. "The game turned in that inning where they put up that four-spot. The way things have been going for us, that was a big number."
Jose Reyes and Ruben Gotay led off the game with back-to-back doubles off Ian Snell, and after Bay's solo shot tied the game at 2 in the fourth, the Mets scored four times in their half. Lastings Milledge, who singled before Maine's first career homer, windmilled his arm at the plate after he scored, like a third-base coach waving in a runner. Maine had to be urged to the dugout's top step for a curtain call.
Snell (7-8) gave up six runs, 10 hits and lasted only four innings. He lost his third straight start since the All-Star break and has won only two of his past eight.
Bay also homered in the ninth, a two-run shot off Guillermo Mota that gave him the team lead with 15 and his first multihomer game of the year.
