NEW YORK -- Pirates manager Clint Hurdle had good reason to call upon Gaby Sanchez to bat for Ike Davis. Womens Mario Williams Elite Jersey . Sanchez tagged the Mets again, delivering a pinch-hit home run in the eighth inning and a tiebreaking single in the ninth that rallied Pittsburgh over New York 5-3 on Monday. Sanchez has a .324 average with nine homers and 34 RBIs vs. New York, matching or topping his bests against any NL team. He lost playing time after Davis was acquired in a trade with the Mets in mid-April. "Ikes a good player and hes been swinging the bat really well. Hes been one of the hottest bats on the team. So, hes going to play and I understand that," Sanchez said about Davis, who was making his return to Citi Field. "My role is to keep that going whenever I get my chance, keep that going and help the team win." The Mets announced after their ninth loss in 12 games that they had fired hitting coach Dave Hudgens. New York also cut reliever Jose Valverde soon after he gave up Sanchezs go-ahead hit. Valverde (1-1) was booed off the field after allowing pinch-hitter Jose Tabatas tying single in the eighth. Valverde returned for the ninth and was even worse, yielding four runs overall. "Dont think for one second that theres not a guy in there that realizes that this is part of it. We just released one of the best professionals I ever been around in Jose Valverde," a fired-up Collins said. "You deal with it, and if you cant you dont belong in the game." Mets minor league hitting co-ordinator Lamar Johnson will take Hudgens place. Right-hander Vic Black is being recalled from Triple-A Las Vegas to fill Valverdes spot. With one out in the ninth, Valverde gave up a single to Neil Walker and walked Andrew McCutchen. Sanchez fouled off a fastball, losing hold of the bat, which spun toward the Pirates dugout and hit a batboy in the legs. The batboy smiled and on-deck hitter Russell Martin checked to see if he was OK. Sanchez then singled to left, scoring Walker. Juan Centeno couldnt handle Curtis Grandersons throw that bounced to the right of the plate and skittered past Valverde, who was backing up but way too close to the catcher. McCutchen scored on Grandersons error for a two-run lead. Martin added an RBI double for Pittsburgh, which rebounded from a loss to Washington on Sunday after a season-high four straight wins. "This mentality in the dugout is, This is the inning. Even if we get pushed down, the next inning well make something," Hurdle said. "Youve got to be relentless. You cant get sad." Tony Watson (5-0) pitched an inning for the win. Mark Melancon got his 10th save. Davis drew a warm reception from the Memorial Day crowd of 29,309, opposite of what he predicted during a pregame chat in the visitors dugout. Popular with fans in his four-plus seasons, he went 0 for 2 with a walk. Slumping Lucas Duda homered off Melancon to start the ninth. The homer was the first off Melancon in 86 innings, since April 14, 2013. New York took a 2-0 lead in the fifth on Daniel Murphys single, Pittsburghs third error of the game and a favourable review under the new home plate collision rule. But the Mets bullpen wasted a fine start by Jacob deGrom. The 25-year-old deGrom pitched 6 2-3 scoreless innings in his third career start, allowing five hits. He laboured early but settled in to throw 122 pitches. Brandon Cumpton was recalled from Triple-A Indianapolis to take the place of Wandy Rodriguez, who was designated for assignment Thursday, and matched deGrom into the fifth. With the help of an umpires review, New York took the lead. The Mets two-out rally was started by -- who else? -- deGrom. He lined a single to left field for his second hit of the day and advanced when Juan Lagares walked. A college shortstop, deGrom is now 4 for 5 as a big league batter. "I guess Ive been seeing the ball pretty well," deGrom said. Murphy lined a single to right field and deGrom scored easily. Josh Harrisons throw to third skipped passed third baseman Pedro Alvarez and Lagares scampered home. The ball took a good bounce back to Alvarez off the protective fence in front of the Pirates dugout and he made a quick throw home. Martin set up to the left of home plate but stuck his leg out, blocking Lagares path before the ball arrived. Umpire Laz Diaz initially called Lagares out, but Colliins asked crew chief Jeff Nelson to review the play under new rule 7.13, covering collisions at the plate. After a delay of 3 minutes, 4 seconds, Lagares was called safe and Murphy was awarded second base on the play home. "Weve encouraged our guys to play the game, do what you feel athletically moved to do knowing what the options are," Hurdle said. NOTES: The Mets placed OF Eric Young Jr. on the DL because of a right hamstring strain. They recalled OF Matt den Dekker from Triple-A Las Vegas to take his place. ... The Pirates designated RHP Vin Mazzaro for assignment to make room for Cumpton. ... Up Next: Pirates RHP Edinson Volquez (2-4) faces Mets LHP Jonathon Niese (3-3) on Tuesday night. Sammy Watkins Jersey . </br></br> Apparently this took place at a soccer stadium for a club match in Brazil. Dan Carpenter Jersey .” – Mark Bloom (@markbloom21), on Twitter That one sentence sums it up, while at the same time, leaving so much out.KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Alex Gordon hit a three-run homer and matched a career high with four RBIs, leading the Kansas City Royals to a 7-3 rout of the Tampa Bay Rays in their series finale Wednesday. Nori Aoki, Johnny Giavotella and Billy Butler also drove in runs for the Royals, who have struggled to find offence all season. They had only scored more than four runs once in their first seven games, and lost 1-0 to Tampa Bay the previous night. Jeremy Guthrie (2-0) recovered from a sloppy start to hold the Rays to four hits over seven innings. The only run he allowed came on Desmond Jennings homer in the fourth. The Royals broke the game open with a five-run fifth off Jake Odorizzi (1-1), who was part of the blockbuster trade in 2012 that brought James Shields from Tampa Bay to Kansas City. The Royals went ahead on Butlers RBI groundout and Gordons run-scoring single in the fourth inning. Lorenzo Cain singled off Odorizzi to lead off the fifth, Aoki followed two batters later with a triple to right, and the flood gates were open. Giavotella, recalled from Triple-A Omaha to replace injured second baseman Omar Infante, hit a sacrifice fly to make it 4-1. Hosmer and Butler followed with back-to-back singles, and Gordon popped a pitch to right-centre that hung up long enough in the wind to land over the fence. It was a rough way for OOdorizzi to return to Kauffman Stadium, where he made his big league debut with the Royals in 2012. Mike Williams Jersey. . He allowed all seven runs on 10 hits and a walk in five innings. The Royals squandered a scoring chance with runners on first and second and one out in the second inning when Mike Moustakas struck out and Gordon was thrown out heading to third. Royals manager Ned Yost trundled onto the field and challenged the call. After a review of 2 minutes, 10 seconds, the ruling made by third base umpire Quinn Wolcott was upheld. It hardly mattered the way the Royals were swinging -- and the way Guthrie was pitching. The right-hander, who turned 35 on Tuesday, was coming off a rough start against the White Sox. But Guthrie navigated trouble in each of the first three innings, leaving five Rays on base, and then retired his final 12 batters to hand the lead to his bullpen. Kelvin Herrera gave up two runs in the ninth for Kansas City. Notes: The Royals activated RHP Louis Coleman (bruised finger) from the DL and optioned RHP Aaron Brooks and LHP Donnie Joseph to Omaha prior to the game. ... Rays 3B Evan Longoria reached base three times. ... The Rays visit Cincinnati for a three-game set this weekend. Theyve never won at Great American Ball Park. ... Kansas City plays 13 of its next 16 on the road beginning Friday night in Minnesota. ' ' '
