Buoyed by a ridiculous seventh inning that featured five infield hits, a blown call, and a ball that caromed off an outfielder's glove, the Pirates cruised to a 9-3 victory over the New York Mets Wednesday.
Starter Kevin Correia pitched six solid innings to pick up his eighth win of the season, most in the majors. But he wouldn't have gotten anywhere without the five-run seventh. The inning began with four straight infield singles by Andrew McCutchen, Neil Walker, Matt Diaz and Chris Snyder. Walker's was a bunt. On Snyder's, the shortstop threw to third and it appeared that the runner should have been called on the forceout, but Mets third baseman Willie Harris also laid down a tag, which may have confused the ump into calling the runner safe.
Then Lyle Overbay hit a single to center that bounced off Angel Pagan's glove. That knocked Mets starter Chris Capuano out of the game. Pedro Beato then struck out Ronny Cedeno, but then allowed a single, an RBI fielder's choice, and yet another infield hit, this one by Josh Harrison. The Pirates sent 10 men to the plate in the inning; five of them scored.
That proved to be more than enough, but the Pirates tacked on four more runs in the eighth for good measure. The Pirates deserved to win this game, but they also got plenty of luck along the way.