Pittsburgh Pirates  5   New York Mets   2

The buccaneers sang the savageness out of the Mets in the eight inning last night with a trio of runs in an unparalleled display of determination and courage. Indeed, a cannon shot of fortune or a dart of chance, call it what you might, worked upon Adam LaRoche's blood in the sixth inning and it prompted him to dispatch a two-run homer off Brian Stokes's 95 miles per hour throw who had replaced the opener Mets' pitcher, John Maine, in that inning. The out of sight blast made the score even and it proved to be the start of another bad day on the mound for the Mets' bullpen. Scott Schoeneweis substituted Brian Stokes in the seventh and all was well until the bottom of the eighth when Pedro Feliciano and Duaner Sanchez conceded three runs to the freebooters to virtually capsized all hopes the Mets' galley had of a clean sweep in the high seas of the rulers of the ocean depths. A well-painted misery was on the manager's face, Jerry Manuel, which had allowed his passion break his self control before he was sent off for ungentlemanly conduct as he argued a call. Certainly, it would be foolish of me if I were not to breathe my censure of his action even though it was prompted, perhaps, by the nature of the instant at the time; nevertheless, in my view whatever it was it did not give him patent to offend the mild temperament of the principal umpire for it affect not only himself but the rest of the team. Were his wits safely confined within the frame of his mind when he was ejected from the game?  Is he light of brain or perhaps going insane? What might have been it, it was what he is normally not but if he was not out of his mind then I wish to God he were because nothing else could excuse his actions. Final score: Mets  2   Pirates  5

P. Figueras