PITTSBURGH (AP) - David Wright hit a three-run homer and Jonathon Niese pitched a five-hitter Saturday night as the New York Mets beat the Pittsburgh Pirates 5-1 in a game called in the top of the sixth inning because of rain.
Wright's home run off James McDonald (2-3) in fifth inning landed in the Mets' bullpen in center field and pushed the lead to 5-1. It came after Angel Pagan led off the inning with a double and Carlos Beltran walked.
The umpires called for the tarp after Jose Reyes led off the sixth with a hit and was called after a delay of 1 hour, 6 minutes.
Niese (8-5) allowed one run to win for the first time in five starts. He struck out five and walked one. The left-hander had allowed one run in seven innings in each of his previous three outings.
The win assured New York of its first road series victory against a National League team this season, though it did sweep Baltimore and Cleveland on the road in interleague play. The Mets also moved back over .500 (62-61) with their third victory in four games.
The Pirates lost their fifth in a row and 12th in 13 games. A night earlier, Pittsburgh secured its 18th straight losing season with loss No. 82, extending their major North American professional sports record for most consecutive losing seasons.
New York broke a 1-1 tie in the fourth when Ike Davis led off with a double off the top of the center-field fence, took third on a wild pitch and scored on Ruben Tejada's one-out sacrifice fly.
The Mets struck early as Reyes doubled to lead off the game then dashed home from third base when catcher Chris Snyder was forced to throw to first base following a strikeout of Chris Carter. Reyes scored just ahead of first baseman Garrett Jones' return throw home; Snyder vehemently argued.
Pittsburgh tied it in the third when Andrew McCutchen hit the second of his two doubles to lead off. He scored on a single by Neil Walker.
Reyes and Pagan each had two hits for the Mets.
McDonald was tagged for five runs and six hits in five innings after winning his previous two home starts since being acquired from the Los Angeles Dodgers in a July 31 trade. He also walked five and struck out four.
NOTES: The start of the game was delayed 15 minutes by rain. ... Reserve outfielder/first baseman Chris Carter started his third consecutive game for the New York, playing right field and went 0 for 2 with a walk as the cleanup hitter. ... Pittsburgh rookie third baseman Pedro Alvarez is hitless in his last 14 at-bats, striking out eight times, after going 0 for 2. ... The Pirates wore replica uniforms of the Pittsburgh Crawfords as a tribute to the Negro Leagues and the Mets wore New York Cubans' replicas.
(Copyright 2010 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
