PITTSBURGH - Jeremy Hefner, a recently unearthed gem on the Mets roster, maintained his impressive form here on Friday night. And after starting the season as a fringe player and struggling to get his footing, Hefner will enter the midseason break rivaling Matt Harvey as the team's most reliable starter.
But on a night when his efforts were undeniably affirmative, they were put to waste, as the Pittsburgh Pirates produced an 11th-inning rally to prevail, 3-2, after a taut, 3-hour-32-minute game at PNC Park.
Hefner gave up just two runs and allowed just three hits over seven innings. He did not walk a batter, and his control and stinginess helped him drop his earned run average to 3.33. Since June 4, he has compiled a 1.76 E.R.A. Harvey's E.R.A. over that span was 2.68.
Hefner's recent success has stirred surprise. He was claimed off waivers after the 2011 season and produced up-and-down performances before this summer. For a front office that has had mixed experiences acquiring players, he has been a valuable find. Long after Hefner left the game, the sellout crowd at PNC Park swayed and bellowed as the winning run crossed the plate, when a previously brisk contest oozed to its end.
The right-hander Gonzalez Germen entered to start the bottom of the 11th inning for the Mets, facing an unenviable situation. It was his major-league debut, but his first game action since July 6. He was recalled to the Mets on July 9 but never used.
Germen walked Andrew McCutchen, the Pirates' All-Star center fielder, to start the inning. After two outs were sandwiched around an intentional walk, Jordy Mercer came to the plate. On a 3-1 pitch, Mercer rolled a ball, slow but perfectly placed, into center field, sending McCutchen racing home with the winning run as fireworks crackled over the cheers.
It was a pleasant night for the fans, as afternoon showers gave way to a cool evening. The idyllic riverside environs, though, took on a somewhat cantankerous edge whenever David Wright appeared in person or as concept. The mere mention of his name Friday was sufficient to coax loud boos from the sellout crowd.
This was their grievance, in a nutshell: Wright, the Home Run Derby captain this year, did not at first select Pedro Alvarez, the Pirates' third baseman, to participate in Monday's competition at Citi Field. Alvarez, 26, has showed immense power this year, bashing 23 home runs before this weekend.
Pirates fans regarded it as an unforgivable slight, so much that it seemed not to matter that Wright did eventually select Alvarez to join the National League squad - showering him with compliments upon arriving at the visitors' clubhouse at PNC Park - because Carlos Gonzalez of the Colorado Rockies was deemed unavailable because of a hand injury.
Alvarez validated his fans, putting his impressive home run power quickly on display. There were two outs and one man on base in the first inning when he pummeled the first pitch he saw from Hefner, a low fastball, over the center-field fence.
Hefner was excellent thereafter. After giving up the long ball to Alvarez, he retired 14 straight Pirates. He was accurate and efficient, pounding the strike zone, and the Pirates could not square him up. He faced one over the minimum from the second through the seventh innings and was pulled after just 78 pitches.
Hefner was sacrificed for offense, as the Mets were till then quieted by Charlie Morton, the Pirates' starter. Morton matched Hefner, giving up two runs in seven innings of work.
Wright, who was booed each time at the plate and whenever he handled the baseball, did not slouch, either. He extended his hitting streak to 12 games, and put the Mets on the board in the sixth inning, when he floated a run-scoring single to right field.
The Mets tied the score at 2-2 the following inning, when Kirk Nieuwenhuis pulled a 3-0 fastball from Morton into the right-center field seats for a solo home run. But they were never able to score another run.
INSIDE PITCH
The right-hander Frank Francisco, who has yet to appear in a game for the Mets this year while battling elbow soreness, pitched one inning for the Gulf Coast Mets on Thursday night.
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