PNC Park Becomes a Crime Scene and the Mets Held the Weapon

The Pittsburgh Pirates hosted the New York Mets on Tuesday and walked away with a 6-4 loss that felt every bit as uncomfortable as that scoreline suggests. The Buccos simply could not get out of their own way, and the Mets were happy to help them fall over. Carmen Mlodzinski took the mound for Pittsburgh and lasted all of three innings, surrendering five earned runs before the Pirates coaching staff mercifully pulled the plug. Meanwhile, Zac Thornton threw five shutout innings for New York, striking out three and generally making the Pirates look like they had never seen a baseball before. Marcus Semien did the heavy lifting for the visitors, going deep for a homer and driving in three runs on a 1-for-4 night. Brandon Lowe was Pittsburgh's lone bright spot with an RBI, which in this context is roughly equivalent to finding a quarter in a burning building.