PITTSBURGH — The Mets can take those white rally towels and swab the deck.
After three straight games pounding the baseball and providing hope they had resurrected their lineup, the Mets reverted to stagnant on Thursday and let a gang of Pirates celebrate.
Daisuke Matsuzaka took a misstep in the fifth inning, and the Mets never recovered in a 5-2 loss before a sellout crowd of 36,647 at PNC Park.
The Mets (36-43) lost their second straight, after going meekly against right-hander Vance Worley over seven innings. It came after a three-game stretch in which the Mets had scored 11, 10 and five runs respectively , hitting seven homers in the process.
“We didn’t have a ton of opportunities to do much,” manager Terry Collins said. “We hit the ball pretty good, we just didn’t [score].”
Matsuzaka (3-2) figures to receive at least one more start before Dillon Gee returns from the disabled list on the Mets’ next homestand. The veteran Matsuzaka lasted six innings on Thursday in which he surrendered five runs on five hits and four walks with four strikeouts.
Rookie Gregory Polanco’s three-run homer in the fifth that gave the Pirates a 5-1 lead was the killer. Pedro Alvarez and Worley each singled in the inning before Polanco hit a full-count slider into the right-field seats.
“I actually shook off [Travis] d’Arnaud on that pitch and it ended up being a big mistake,” Matsuzaka said. “I apologized to him. He called changeup. I wanted a slider.”
It didn’t help that d’Arnaud was charged with a passed ball, moving runners to second and third before Polanco unloaded.
“The [passed ball] the pitch before made the situation a little more difficult,” Matsuzaka said. “I was looking for a ground ball to get the double play, but then I was going more for the strikeout. It ended up being the worst possible result, and it’s really regretful.”
The Pirates (40-39) are surging after a dreadful start that had them eight games below .500 on May 20.
David Wright’s RBI double in the eighth inning off Tony Watson gave the Mets their final run on a night they outhit the Pirates 9-8, but never received a jolt.
The Pirates hoodwinked the Mets for a run in the fourth inning. Ike Davis was picked off first base with two outs, but before he could be tagged out, Andrew McCutchen raced home from third to give the Pirates a 2-1 lead.
“You’ve just got to make sure he goes back to third,” Collins said.
Lucas Duda shoehorned a shot inside the left-field foul pole in the fourth for a solo homer that made it 1-1. The blast was Duda’s second in as many games. On Wednesday, he hit a pinch-hit, three-run homer against Oakland lefty Brad Mills at Citi Field.
Polanco’s RBI ground out in the third gave the Pirates their first run. Jordy Mercer walked leading off the inning and reached second on a sacrifice bunt before Matsuzaka’s wild pitch advanced him to third.
“[Matsuzaka] kept us in the game, he did what Dice-K does,” Collins said. “You look up and late in the game it always seems like he gives you a chance to win.”
Matsuzaka said it was a struggle.
“I didn’t have my best stuff today,” he said. “I just wanted to fight through.”
Bobby Abreu was thrown out at the plate to end a second inning in which the Mets had three hits but didn’t score. Ruben Tejada singled to left with two outs, but Abreu, running from second, was out by plenty at the plate on Josh Harrison’s throw.