PIRATES PUT UP THEIR DUKE

Pirates 5, Mets 0 (PIT: 52-69; NYM: 61-59) 7.5 GB East, 3 GB Wild Card

There's one thing (and I think just one thing) that Mets fans and Red Sox fans have in common. When they see a rookie pitcher pitching against their respective teams, they just want to run and hide. Enter Zach Duke. The Pittsburgh phenom has been lights-out since his call-up before the All-Star break, and he gave up just two hits to the Mets in 7 innings of work on Thursday as the Pirates beat the Mets, 5-0.

The game was on WB11 in New York, so I was relegated to Fox Sports Net Pittsburgh to watch this game. Awful broadcasting. Just awful - more on that later. Anyway, I don't think those broadcasters deserve to broadcast games involving an impressive youngster like Duke. They were horrible. I actually wasn't too impressed watching Duke. He obviously was good - he shut down the Mets - but he was doing it by mixing speeds and keeping the Mets off balance. Every now and again he'd blow one past a hitter, but he wasn't what I expected...I guess that's the point I'm trying to make.

So Victor Zambrano got the loss - he was streaky. He got into the typical jams, then pitched himself out of them, but he was very wild. He hit Jason Bay twice, and Brad Eldred another time. This is where the horrible announcing comes in. They're both in the booth talking about whether or not Duke should go out the next inning and hit the first batter to send a message. The first batter would have been Zambrano (who, down 4-0 in the sixth, was clearly going to be lifted for a pinch-hitter), and this was after Zambrano hits Bay for the second time, his third hit batter overall. Now, anyone who broadcasts Major League Baseball games should know that Zambrano has control issues. But these guys are debating this point, then one of them says, "Wow. Zambrano hits A LOT of guys!! I guess he's not doing it on purpose." Yeah, bozo, the Mets are trailing, there's no history between the two, and Zambrano is intentionally throwing at Pirates. And Zach Duke should ruin the gem he's pitching to retaliate for nothing, and perhaps spark a brawl that will end up getting him hurt. Idiots.

Speaking of hurt, Carlos Beltran* showed his first tentativeness in center in the second inning. On a fly ball to left-center field, Beltran* circled the ball, which came straight down on the warning track in front of him. I think he was afraid of running into Cliff Floyd, who was heading towards the ball also. That could be a problem down the stretch here. But Beltran* continued his aggressiveness on the basepaths - stealing a base, and legging out an infield hit.

The shame of this loss is that everything that needed to happen for the Mets on Thursday night went their way. The Phillies and the Nationals split their day-night doubleheader, with the Nationals getting two late runs in the second game to come back and win. The Dodgers beat the Braves, so the Mets could have gained ground in the division. And as I write this, it looks like the Brewers will beat the Astros. (The bad news is that the Marlins moved another game in front of the Mets by beating the Padres.)

Here's another impressive thing about Duke - he's now 6-0 (the Pirates have lost a couple of the games he's started, but he has gotten no decisions) and either one or two wins short of the best rookie starts ever by a Pirate. Just FYI.

Pirates piling on: Jason Bay robbed Ramon Castro of a home run in the eighth inning - the ball might have hit the top of the wall, but it was going to go over.

The Nationals, coming off the doubleheader split, come to town for three this weekend beginning Friday night. The Mets, considering the fact they didn't sweep the Pirates, NEED to get at least two out of three, and a sweep would be better.

ELTRAN*'S: Beltran* went 2-for-4, but he's not really killing the ball. He legged out a dribbler down the third base line that didn't roll foul late in the game, and he got the second hit off of Duke (he only allowed the two) on a liner up the middle. He also stole third. Seems like Beltran* is starting to heat up...

30-for-105 (.286 AVG.), 3 HR, 15 RBI, 22 Runs, 8 SB

WRIGHT WATCH: The doubles hunt is slowing. Wright needs to heat up again. He was 0-for-2 with a walk on Thursday.

SECOND HALF: 10 SEASON TOTAL: 32 TEAM RECORD: 44

WRIGHT NEEDS 12 DOUBLES IN THE TEAM'S FINAL 42 GAMES TO TIE!!

THE KID'S KIDS: Looks like more rain in Florida. Still 32-15 after another rainout. 9-and-a-half games up. I forgot to call Port St. Lucie today - but I will try on Friday. I was busy cleaning up the lawn and yard.