Not-So-Dirty Sanchez: Pirates 5, Mets 2

You can't win them all, and four-game sweeps are especially tough, but when you take the first three against an awful team like the Pirates, it's a little disappointing not to come away with the last one. The Mets failed in the two areas they fail most often: hitting with runners in scoring position and relief pitching. The Mets had thirteen baserunners and only plated two of them. Comparatively, the Pirates had 15 baserunners and plated five.

Pitching-wise, John Maine was iffy. The two hits allowed look great, but his velocity was piss-poor and he walked four batters to just three strikeouts in five innings. He gets some bonus points for figuring out a way to get through those five innings with slop, but the Pirates are a crappy, crappy offensive team so it's hard to come away particularly impressed with his outing.

Brian Stokes turned back into a pumpkin, giving up a brutal two-run homer to Adam LaRoche that tied the game in the sixth. Pedro Feliciano and especially Duaner Sanchez were bad, combining to cough up three runs in the bottom of the eighth.

Damion Easley was just brutal at the plate, going 0-for-3 with a walk and accounting for five total outs if you consider his two GIDPs. The walk came in the ninth when the Mets actually managed to bring the tying run to the plate. Unfortunately, Argenis Reyes was that tying run, and he quickly became the third out.

No rest for the weary, as the Mets scoot home to take on the Braves on Tuesday.

Big winners: John Maine, +29.9% WPA, Nick Evans, +13.6% WPA
Big losers: Duaner Sanchez, -37.3% WPA, Brian Stokes, -23.7% WPA
Teh aw3s0mest play: Sanchez double-play in 5th, +21.1% WPA
Teh sux0rest play: LaRoche homerun, -25.4% WPA
Total pitcher WPA: -21.1%
Total batter WPA: -29.9%

Game Thread Roll Call

Nice job by IanB in MD; his effort in the game thread embiggens us all.