It's not going to show up on the box score, but Daniel Murphy's misplay in the third inning -- which should have been ruled an error -- was all that cost the New York Mets in this one against the Pittsburgh Pirates. R.A. Dickey was superb, tossing eight innings and allowing eight hits, but the Andrew McCutchen double in the third inning was the most costly, giving the Pirates enough cushion to win 3-2.
McCutchen hit a shot down the third-base line that most third basemen in the majors would have stopped. Instead of getting in front of the ball, Murphy tried to backhand it and it kicked away toward left field, plating two runners. Murphy continues to rake, going 1-for-4 in this one with the lone RBI, but he's a huge defensive liability and that's the risk you take when putting him out there.
Besides that, the Mets did have 10 hits in the game, with Jose Reyes, Ruben Tejada and Carlos Beltran -- 1-2-3 in the order -- all getting two hits. The problem was that the team went 2-for-11 with runners in scoring position and could never fully put the axe on James McDonald's day. McDonald gave up plenty of base runners in his six innings of work -- eight hits and three walks, yet the Mets could only manage two runs.
The Mets, now 31-33 on the year, will have to wait another two games to try to break even on the season.