Burnett sparkles as Pirates hand Mets, Harvey 8-2 loss

PITTSBURGH (AP) — A.J. Burnett threw seven effective innings to win his fourth straight start and the Pittsburgh Pirates handed New York Mets ace Matt Harvey the worst loss of his career in an 8-2 victory Saturday.

The anticipated showdown between two of the top pitchers in the National League never materialized. Burnett (4-1) allowed one run while striking out a season-high 10 without a walk.

Andrew McCutchen and Pedro Alvarez homered and each drove in two runs for the Pirates.

Harvey (5-2) lasted only four innings, the shortest outing of his career. He gave up a career-worst seven runs on six hits and also threw two wild pitches, matching the number he had all of the 2013 season.

New York has dropped four of five. Daniel Murphy had two hits, and Ruben Tejada homered for the Mets.

Burnett began the day with the second-best ERA in baseball at 1.38, while Harvey was riding a 16-inning scoreless streak that dropped his to 1.98 in his comeback from elbow surgery that forced him to miss all of 2014.

While Burnett's ERA ticked down to 1.37 after making a team-record ninth straight start allowing two runs or less, Harvey's shot up to 2.91 when McCutchen and Alvarez pounced on 96 mph fastballs and sent them to the deepest reaches of PNC Park.

McCutchen drilled his sixth homer of the season to the Pirates' bullpen beyond the wall in center to give Pittsburgh a 2-0 lead in the first. Alvarez — who sent a home run onto a boat in the Allegheny River on Tuesday — then led off the bottom of the second with a long drive to the last row of seats in right field to make it 3-0.

Harvey never recovered. He unraveled in the fourth, when his stuff and his usually impeccable command abandoned him. Alvarez sliced and RBI-double just inside the first-base bag to score Jung Ho Kang. Harvey then walked Gregory Polanco and Francisco Cervelli — mixing in two wild pitches in the process — to set up Burnett for a sacrifice fly and Josh Harrison for a two-run double to push Pittsburgh's lead to 7-1.

A night after teammate Gerrit Cole dominated the Mets for 8 1-3 innings, Burnett was just as sharp.

TRAINER'S ROOM

Mets: 3B David Wright's return from hamstring and back injuries hit another road block on Saturday when the team said the seven-time All-Star has been diagnosed with stenosis, a narrowing of the spinal column. Wright took live batting practice on Friday before his back flared up again. Wright, who hasn't played since mid-April, will rest for at least a week before being reassessed.

"It's just something that seems to be taking longer than we initially thought," Mets general manager John Ricco said. "The way it was progressing, (doctors) thought it would be gone by now."

Pirates: OF Andrew Lambo's progress while dealing with plantar fasciitis in his left foot has been slow. Manager Clint Hurdle said the foot "is not showing any signs of improvement to get him into a game." Lambo is eligible to come off the 15-day disabled list on Sunday. He has just one hit in 25 at bats (.040) this season.

UP NEXT

The series concludes on Sunday when Pittsburgh's Francisco Liriano (1-4, 4.15 ERA) faces New York's Jonathon Niese (3-4, 3.72). Liriano, who signed a three-year, $39 million deal to remain with the Pirates last winter, is coming off arguably his worst start in two-plus seasons in Pittsburgh. The lefthander gave up seven runs in two innings against Minnesota on Tuesday. The Pirates are just 1-7 in Liriano's eight starts. Niese had similar troubles his last time out, getting tagged for eight runs in five innings during a loss to St. Louis.

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