Wheeler Does It All In Series-Splitting 1-0 Win Against the Pirates

It was a clean first for J-Grove. Gregory singled with two gone against Zack Wheeler, then swiped second before Red Beard walked, but a fly left them on ice. After a couple of well-struck outs in the second, Austin Jackson drew a nine pitch walk; his eye just ran up the pitch count. S-Rod singled for the Bucs; the rest of the side struck out. The Mets were quiet in the third; Gregory singled with two gone for the Pirates to no avail. A bopped batter moved to second on a grounder in the fourth with two away, and a liner to Starling kept him planted there. Freeser opened with a rap, followed by a pop and two whiffs; Wheeler has been dealing so far. NY opened the fifth with an infield single; a 4-6-3 DP erased that runner (not often do you have a Fraze-to-S-Rod-to-Freeser twin killing) but another infield knock and Wheeler double into the RF corner (he holds his own with the lumber for a twirler w/.229 BA) put the Mets up 1-0. He celebrated by spinning an eight-pitch frame. J-Grove answered with an eight-pitch inning of his own in the sixth.

Strong outing but no cigar (photo Pittsburgh Pirates)

Gregory opened with his third hit, a single to center. He stole second after a pair of fly outs and was stranded again. New York banged back-to-back one-out singles in the seventh and a grounder moved them up. Michael Conforto was intentionally walked and a grounder closed it out. Seth Lugo claimed the hill and worked a 1-2-3 frame. Ric Rod took the ball in the eighth - Musgrove had a great outing, giving up a run on five hits - and gave up an opening walk and caught Joey Bats with a pitch an out later; free runners in a 1-0 game, SMH! Then he hit another Met to load 'em up w/o a hit. Rodriguez straightened out to get a pair of pops to keep it close. With an out, Starling singled and was caught stealing by a gnat's eyelash, but review upheld it and Gregory K'ed. Felipe Vazquez entered for the ninth and gave up a one-out walk; it's a tight strike zone today called by Dan Bellino. But not that tight as DJ Nightmare fanned the next pair. Anthony Swarzak got the ball and struck out a pair around a liner to put the Pirates to bed.

Well, kinda got to expect it with the Pirates lineup missing two everyday guys for the next few days. Now that they're being given a chance, the bench/Indy guys have to step up. They've got the window to showcase; now it's on them and the remaining regular crew to produce.

Notes:

• Gregory had three hits; the Bucs only had six on the day.
• Today's crowd was 23,749.
• In his radio show, NH said “We’d love to add (but) we really like this core...(we'll) see what makes sense. We’re engaged in conversations on multiple players." He's in a tough spot, and the closer to the deadline, the dearer the acquisition costs are. Huntington added that he doesn't expect to be a seller this year.
• The latest rumor to hit the fan is that the Bucs are working on a deal involving the Oriole's Kevin Gausman and Brad Brach (first reported by Jason Rollison); that doesn't strike us at first blush as much of an upgrade, especially as Brach is a rental. He's popular, though; the Cubs and Braves are also reportedly on him.
• Pirates fans stepped up big again for Pirates Charities night; the team raised $700K for its  Miracle League program