NEW YORK METS (36-43) vs. PITTSBURGH PIRATES (40-39) JUNE 27, 2014 AT PNC PARK --- GAME #80, HOME #41 RHP JACOB deGROM (1-4, 3.75 ERA) vs. RHP BRANDON CUMPTON (3-2, 4.93 ERA) THE PIRATES...have won five of their last six games and six of their last eight after losing three in a row...Have gone 11-6 in their last 17 games and 15-9 in their last 24... Have gone 30-21 in their last 51 games (since 5/2) after going 10-18 in their first 28...Scored a season-high 15 runs on 6/6 vs. Milwaukee...Have won a season-high four consecutive games on four occasions (6/21-24, 6/11-14, 5/21-24 and 5/6-10...Were a season-high three games over .500 (6-3 record) on 4/10...Were 49-30 after 79 games in 2013 (50-30 after 80). BUCS WHEN... #PACKPNC: Last night was Pittsburgh’s fifth home sellout of the season and the second-largest Thursday crowd in PNC Park Last five games ............ 4-1 history (excluding Opening Day in 2011 and 2012)...The largest regular season crowd (39,833) in the 13 years of play at PNC Last ten games ............ 6-4 Park witnessed the action on Opening Day (3/31) vs. Chicago...Last season the Pirates posted a club-record 23 sellouts and the 129,623 that came out against St. Louis July 29-August 1 set a record for a four-date series. Leading after 6 ........... 26-5 ON THE MOUND: RHP Brandon Cumpton has gone 3-0 with a 3.09 ERA (23.1ip/8er) in his last four starts and has been charged Tied after 6 ............... 9-4 with three earned runs or less in six of his eight big league starts this season...In addition to his eight starts with the Pirates, which included a no-decision at Citi Field on 5/26 (6.0ip/2r/1er), Cumpton went 4-1 with a 1.35 ERA in six Triple-A starts. Trailing after 6 ........... 5-30 WALK THIS WAY: Andrew McCutchen leads the National League with 53 walks...The club record for most walks prior to the Leading after 7 ........... 33-5 All-Star break is 63, set by Arky Vaughan in 1936 and matched by Ralph Kiner in 1950 and again in 1952. Tied after 7 ............... 5-3 LEADING THE WAY: Gregory Polanco, who homered and had a career-high four RBI Thursday, has reached base safely in 15 Trailing after 7 ........... 2-31 of his first 16 big league games...He has led off each of the last 14 games and has gone 21-for-58 (.362) with nine RBI, 13 runs scored and a .931 OPS...During the month of the June, Polanco is leading all Major League rookies in batting average (.338) and Leading after 8 ........... 34-4 on-base percentage (.416). Tied after 8 ............... 5-3 IN TUNE IN JUNE: The Pirates lead all National League teams with a .357 on-base percentage and rank second in batting average (.276) during the month of June...In addition, the Bucco pitching staff is tied for the second-best record in the N.L. this Trailing after 8 ........... 1-32 month (15-9) while ranking seventh in ERA (3.59) and fourth in batting average against (.232)...Pittsburgh has posted a Major League best 32-18 record in June over the the last two seasons. Scoring first ............ 28-12 Opp. score first. 12-27 THE HIT CLUB: Since the beginning of the 2012 season, Andrew McCutchen leads all National League players with 472 hits, followed by New York’s Daniel Murphy (449) and Arizona’s Martin Prado (440). Scoring 4+ .............. 33-8 HOMER HAPPY: The Bucs have homered in a season-high seven straight games; they did so in a season-high nine consecutive Scoring less than 4 ........ 7-31 games in 2013...The Pirates have gone 27-18 when homering in a game this season; 15-3 when going deep twice or more. HEATING UP IN THE SUMMER: Andrew McCutchen has hit safely in six straight games and is hitting .351 (34-for-97) in 24 Outhitting Opp. ........... 30-5 games in June...Among National League players this month, he ranks first in hits (34), RBI (25), total bases (69) and extra-base Being out-hit ............. 6-26 hits (19) while ranking second in slugging percentage (.711) and eighth in batting. Hits are equal ............. 4-8 THE OBP MACHINE: Bucco backstop Russell Martin has reached base safely in 39 of his 43 games this season and ranks fourth among all National League players with a .442 OBP during the month of June, going 17-for-65 (.262) with 16 walks and Comeback wins. 18 six HBP’s...Since returning from the disabled list on 5/23, Martin has reached base safely in 23 of his 24 starts. Wins in final AB. 10 START ME UP: In the last 18 games, the Pittsburgh starting pitchers have combined to go 9-4 with a 3.07 ERA (114.1ip/39er)... Walkoff Wins ................6 The starting staff has gone 13-6 with a 3.20 ERA (146.1ip/52er) this month, ranking second in the N.L. behind Milwaukee (14-5, .737) in winning percentage and fourth in ERA behind Washington (2.54), Los Angeles (2.84) and St. Louis (3.09). Losses in final AB ............8 TOPS IN N.L.: Since May 2 the Pirates have posted the best record in the National League (30-21, .588); also the fourth-best Extra Inning Games ......... 4-4 record in the Major Leagues in that time behind Toronto (32-21, .604), Oakland (30-20, .600) and LAA (30-20, .600). Playing errorless ........ 23-19 CUTCH AT PNC: Andrew McCutchen is hitting .376 (32-for-85) in his last 22 games played at PNC Park and .347 (52-for-150) in 39 home games overall with 15 doubles, two triples, eight home runs, 31 RBI and a 1.080 OPS...McCutchen is the all-time Homered ............... 27-18 leader in runs scored (273) at the ballpark and ranks second behind Jason Bay in home runs (61 to 58) and RBI (241 to 230). 2+ homers .............. 15-3 1-2-3: In 10 games with Gregory Polanco, Starling Marte and Andrew McCutchen at the top of the order, the threesome has combined to go 46-for-134 (.343) with six doubles, two home runs, 22 RBI and 24 runs scored. Series (W-L-T) .........13-11-1 Series Sweeps ...............0 BLACK & BLUE BUCCOS: As a team the Bucs have been hit by a pitch a Major League-leading 47 times...Neil Walker is the individual league leader (11), followed by teammates Russell Martin (10) and Starling Marte (9). Swept in a Series ............2 STERLING STARLING: Starling Marte has gone 21-for-56 (.375) with five doubles, a homer and nine RBI while hitting safely in Interleague ............... 6-7 12 of his last 13 games...He has gone 14-for-44 (.318) with nine runs scored the past 10 games while batting second in lineup and enters tonight’s action with a .300 (21-for-70) batting average in 19 games this month. Before the break. 40-39 After the break ............ 0-0 ON THIS DATE IN PIRATES HISTORY Starter goes 6.0ip+ ...... 25-21 June 27, 1971: Roberto Clemente collected his 1,200th RBI in a 10-9 win against the Phillies at Veterans Stadium. Starter goes less than 6.0ip. 15-18 The Bucs took a 5-0 lead in the first inning before the Phillies answered with one run in the second and six runs in the third inning. Clemente then broke a 9-9 tie in the eighth inning with a pinch-hit homer to put the Bucs back on top for good while gaining a split of the doubleheader. DAY/OPPONENT/TIME UPCOMING PROBABLE PITCHERS TV Saturday vs. New York 4:05 LHP Jonathon Niese (4-4, 2.78 ERA) vs. RHP Gerrit Cole (6-3, 3.64 ERA) ROOT Sunday vs. New York 1:35 RHP Bartolo Colon (8-5, 3.67 ERA) vs. RHP Edinson Volquez (5-6, 4.35 ERA) ROOT Monday in Pittsburgh OFF DAY 58 - RHP BRANDON CUMPTON YEAR W-L ERA G GS CG SHO IP H R ER BB SO 2013 2-1 2.05 6 5 0 0 30.2 26 8 7 5 22 2014 3-2 4.93 8 8 0 0 45.2 52 27 25 11 28 M.L. CAREER 5-3 3.77 14 13 0 0 76.1 78 35 32 16 50 vs. NEW YORK: ­­0-0 with a 1.50 ERA in one career start...Was in line for the loss (6.0ip/2r/1er) earlier this season on 5/26 at Citi Field, but came away with a no- decision in Pittsburgh’s 5-3 come-from-behind win...Allowed his only two runs in the fifth inning and left trailing 2-0 before the Bucs scored twice in the eighth to tie it and three times in the ninth for the victory. DATE/OPP W/L IP H R ER BB SO PITCHES ERA SCORE DATE/OPP W/L IP H R ER BB SO PITCHES ERA SCORE WITH TRIPLE-A INDIANAPOLIS 4/5 at Columbus W 6.0 6 0 0 1 1 75 0.00 5-4 W 4/10 vs. Toledo ND 6.0 6 3 3 2 5 85 2.25 4-3 W 4/18 at Louisville W 7.0 5 0 0 0 5 86 1.42 9-2 W 5/7 at Scranton L 7.0 5 2 0 1 3 101 1.04 1-3 L 5/13 vs.