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Major League Baseball
Pittsburgh 5, NY Mets 4
When: 7:15 PM ET, Saturday, May 27, 2017
Where: PNC Park, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Temperature: 71°
Umpires: Home - Cory Blaser, 1B - Jeff Nelson, 2B - Lazaro Diaz, 3B - Doug Eddings
Attendance: 31658

PITTSBURGH - The odds might have been against John Jaso, and the pressure was on with the bases loaded and two outs in the bottom of the 10th inning Saturday night.

The Pittsburgh Pirates left-handed hitter had not had a hit in his past 31 at-bats against left-handed pitchers.

Didn't matter.

Against New York Mets lefty Josh Edgin, Jaso worked the at-bat to perfection. He fouled off four pitches. Then he hit a full-count single to right to give the Pirates a comeback 5-4 walk-off win at PNC Park.

"How about that?" Jaso said of his first hit off a lefty this season. "It's just not trying to do too much, and when you see a lot runners on base in a situation like that, we all have the tendency -- including myself -- to get big.

"I had in my mind either a walk or a base hit right there. Again, credit to the team for setting the table and doing a lot of work."

It was Jaso's second heroic at-bat of the night. His pinch-hit RBI single in the ninth off Addison Reed sent the game into extra innings.

"It was a very gritty at-bat," Pittsburgh manager Clint Hurdle said of the game-winner. "He kept fighting. He got one that got more of the plate than the other ones he fouled off and drilled it.

"Very impactful finish for John to come in when he did."

New York right-hander Tyler Pill (0-1) entered in the bottom of the 10th in his major league debut. After Gregory Polanco flew out on a ball hit to the center field wall, David Freese singled to right-center. Pill hit Andrew McCutchen with a pitch and walked Francisco Cervelli to load the bases.

Gift Ngoepe popped out to shallow right for the second out, and Pill was replaced by Edgin.

"Ideally, you would like to start off in (a situation) a little less difficult, but I also liked the challenge of being put in that situation," said Pill, who was promoted by the Mets on Friday.

"It didn't really give me a chance to think about it being my major league debut or get nervous about it. I knew I had to concentrate on getting people out."

The win gave Pittsburgh (23-27) a split of the first two games of the weekend series against the Mets (20-27).

Lucas Duda went 2-for-4 and hit one of three New York homers. Jay Bruce and Travis d'Arnaud also hit homers for the Mets.

McCutchen went 2-for-3 with a homer and three RBIs for Pittsburgh. Tony Watson (3-1) pitched the 10th for the win, getting out of a two-on, two-out situation by striking out d'Arnaud.

New York starter Zack Wheeler allowed three runs on seven hits over six innings, with five strikeouts and two walks. It was just the fourth time in his past nine starts he lasted through six innings.

Pirates starter Gerrit Cole gave up 10 hits for the second straight game and allowed all three homers. He yielded four runs over five innings, with three walks and three strikeouts. That was just one-third of an inning longer than his previous start, Monday against Atlanta, which was his shortest of the season.

"Obviously, too many mistakes," Cole said. "Too many balls leaving the park, falling behind in counts. At the end of the day, it's a team sport and those guys played an unbelievable game battling back."

Three Pittsburgh relievers shut down New York in order over the sixth through ninth innings.

The Mets got single runs in each of the first two innings, on Bruce's 423-foot homer to right in the first and d'Arnaud's RBI single following Curtis Granderson's leadoff triple in the second for a 2-0 lead.

Pittsburgh tied it 2-2 in the bottom of the second when McCutchen sent the ball 428 feet into the Pirates' bullpen in center after Freese drew a one-out walk.

The long ball got New York back on top in the fourth when d'Arnaud sent the first pitch from Cole over the wall for his fifth homer and a 3-2 lead.

Duda's solo homer to right-center in the fifth made it 4-2 Mets lead.

McCutchen drove in Josh Bell with a double in the sixth to close it to 4-3, but he then was easily thrown out trying to score on Cervelli's infield hit.

In the ninth against Reed, Jordy Mercer hit a one-out double to deep right-center to get things going for Pittsburgh. Pinch-runner Ngoepe advanced to third on a wild pitch and scored to tie it 4-4 on Jaso's single to left.

"I just didn't get the job done. It's as simple as that," Reed said. "I am supposed to come in and close the game out and I didn't do it."

NOTES: Pittsburgh RHP Jameson Taillon is scheduled to pitch for Double-A Altoona Sunday in a game at Erie, his first live game action since he had surgery for testicular cancer May 8. ... For the second straight game, Pittsburgh CF Andrew McCutchen was dropped to sixth in the batting order. ... Pittsburgh LHP Antonio Bastardo (left quad strain) and RHP Josh Lindblom (left side discomfort) began rehab assignments with Triple-A Indianapolis. ... Mets LHP Steven Matz (elbow) is scheduled to make his second rehab start Sunday for Triple-A Las Vegas. ... New York RHP Seth Lugo (elbow) is scheduled to make his third rehab start Sunday for Double-A Binghamton. ... A vocal and sizable contingent of Mets fans were at PNC Park. ... New York manager Terry Collins turned 68 Saturday.
Top Game Performances
Starting Pitchers
NY Mets   Pittsburgh
Zack Wheeler Player Gerrit Cole
No Decision W/L No Decision
6.0 IP 5.0
5 Strikeouts 3
7 Hits 10
4.50 ERA 7.20
Hitting
NY Mets   Pittsburgh
Travis d'Arnaud Player John Jaso
3 Hits 2
2 RBI 2
1 HR 0
7 TB 2
.600 Avg 1.000
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Hits HR TB Avg LOB K RBI BB SB Errors
NY Mets 12 3 26 .279 15 10 4 1 0 0
Pittsburgh 13 1 20 .325 17 6 5 4 0 1