If theres a recurrence of the incideent from last Saturday night

PITTSBURGH -- Jordy Mercer knows the routine. He figured it was time he experienced it for himself. The Pittsburgh Pirates second baseman singled up the middle off Gonzalez Germen with two outs in the 11th inning to send teammate Andrew McCutchen sprinting home with the winning run in a 3-2 victory over the New York Mets on Friday night. Mercer celebrated the first walkoff hit of his career and the sixth of Pittsburghs stunning season by flipping his bat in the air and then running for safety. "You make them chase you down because you know youre going to get punished afterward, punched and stuff," Mercer said. "Its all worth it in the end, though." McCutchen led off the 11th with a walk, stole second and then easily beat the throw home from centre fielder Juan Lagares to end the Mets four-game winning streak. The Pirates stayed one game behind St. Louis in the tight NL Central race. Vin Mazzaro (5-2) retired all three batters he faced to earn the victory. Starling Marte had two of Pittsburghs six hits, and Pedro Alvarez added his 24th home run. Mets All-Star David Wright had two hits and extended his hitting streak to 12 games. He had an RBI single but also flied out with two runners on to end the New York 10th. Kirk Nieuwenhuis hit his third homer of the season for New York. Germen (0-1) got only two outs in his first inning in the majors and took the loss. He struck out Alvarez and Gaby Sanchez with McCutchen on second before Mercers grounder slipped by shortstop Omar Quintanilla and into the outfield. "He made some great pitches, too," Mets manager Terry Collins said of Germen. "The 3-1 pitch to Gaby Sanchez was about as (gutsy) of a pitch that youll ever see." The game carried a little more heat than usual between one team in the midst of a pennant race and another rebuilding. Wright, the starting NL All-Star third baseman and Home Run Derby captain, added Alvarez to the NLs derby roster on Thursday after Colorados Carlos Gonzalez pulled out because of a hand injury. Still, Wrights perceived initial snub of Alvarez wasnt forgotten by Pirates fans. He was booed lustily before each at bat, even though he and Alvarez -- who will make his All-Star debut -- exchanged a handshake and a brief chat before the national anthem. "Theyre knowledgeable fans, they know whats going on and its cool that theyre upset and passionate about it," Wright said. "It made for a nice atmosphere." Alvarez wasted little time celebrating. One batter after Jose Tabata reached on an infield single in the bottom of the first, Alvarez hit the first pitch he saw from Jeremy Hefner into the New York bullpen in centre field. He trotted past Wright without looking up as the seventh sellout crowd of the season roared. Alvarez, a New York native, dismissed any sense of payback with his blast. He considers Wright a friend and would rather focus on his breakout season. "I just try to hit the pitch where its pitched, and just trying to make good contact and really not worry about trying to put too much on the ball," he said. "You cant really control the home runs. I try my best to make good contact wherever the ball is." Hefner settled down and retired 14 straight after Alvarezs homer, needing just 78 pitches to get through seven innings. He allowed three hits and struck out three without issuing a walk. "Last year and even at the beginning of this year I would have folded or given up more runs or whatever the case may be," Hefner said. "Ive been able to bounce back, turn the page and give quality outings after giving up some runs early." It marked the eighth straight start in which Hefner gave up two earned runs or fewer, the longest streak by a Mets pitcher since Johan Santana did it over 13 starts between 2008 and 2009. Pittsburghs Charlie Morton gave up two runs, six hits, and a walk with four strikeouts in his longest start since returning from elbow surgery last month. Morton rolled through five innings before Wright delivered an RBI single in the sixth. Mortons only real mistake came on a 2-0 fastball that Nieuwenhuis hit into the first row of seats in right-centre to tie it at 2. NOTES: New York right-hander Carlos Torres (0-1, 0.51 ERA) makes his first major league start in nearly three years on Saturday when he fills in for ace Matt Harvey, who is dealing with a blister on his right index finger and an innings limit. Collins says Torres could earn a regular spot in the rotation. The 30-year-old Torres has allowed just one run in 10 relief appearances since being called up from Triple-A in mid-June. A.J. Burnett (4-6, 3.05 ERA) starts for the Pirates. ... Pittsburgh wont send rookie RHP Gerrit Cole to Triple-A Indianapolis during the All-Star break. Cole is 4-2 with a 3.68 ERA since making his debut on June 11. The right-hander started on Tuesday, and the Pirates will let him have a few days off during the break rather than have him make a spot start in Indianapolis to stay on his routine. ... The Pirates acquired minor league infielder Russ Canzler from Baltimore for RHP Tim Alderson. To make room on the 40-man roster, the Pirates moved RHP James McDonald (shoulder) to the 60-day disabled list. Warren Moon Jersey . Now, correct me if Im wrong but I saw one official distinctly pointing at the net indicating a good goal but after an inconclusive review they overturned the goal. Shouldnt the ruling on the ice (good goal) stand after an inconclusive review? Why was this overturned? James Veaudry Pembroke, ON -- Hey Kerry, Youll get a lot of these, but why was the Montreal goal against Nashville Saturday night overturned? Eller puts the puck on net and the on ice ruling from the ref behind the net is a Montreal goal. Patrick Mahomes Jersey .S. hockey team after paying his dues as an NHL general manager for more than three decades and giving up a lot of his free time to help USA Hockey. http://www.customchiefsjersey.com/custom-ben-niemann-jersey-large-1946n.html . Once again Jordan Cieciwa (@FitCityJordan) and I (@LynchOnSports) go head to head in our picks. Last weekend at UFC Fight Night 32 my #TeamLynch got the best of #TeamJC by a score of 9-6. Let us know which side youre on for UFC 167 use the hashtag #TeamLynch or #TeamJC on Twitter. Demarcus Robinson Jersey . -- Aldon Smith believes he is on the path to being sober for good. Abner Haynes Jersey . -- The Bishops Gaiters are showing they belong among the countrys top varsity football teams. Football Federation Australia has put Western Sydney on notice after their hopes for a flare-free A-League season fell at the first hurdle.After Wanderers fans lit and threw a small number of flares in their 4-0 Sydney derby loss, FFA on Monday issued the club with a show cause notice that will extend - but not trigger - the threat of a three-point deduction until the end of the season.According to the governing body, the Wanderers have accepted the result and will re-double their efforts to maintain crowd decorum for the season ahead.While police were largely comfortable with the crowd behaviour in Saturdays derby, the flares embarrassed club leaders.A letter from figures including chief executive John Tsatsimas, coach Tony Popovic and captain Nikolai Topor-Stanley asked fans to be on their best behaviour this season.As a club we are united to succeed on the pitch and have a flare-free season, the letter read.The Red and Black Blocs restraint lasted less than an hour.A-League chief Greg ORourke said he didnt want to see similar incidents.If theres a recurrence of the incideent from last Saturday night .dddddddddddd.. FFA may well be left with no alternative other than to deduct points from the club, he said.The club will reconnect with their members again this week given a few persons chose to ignore the communication and strong stance against the lighting of flares from John Tsatsimas, Head Coach Tony Popovic and captain Nikolai Topor-Stanley.The Wanderers were originally served the punishment after away fans ignited about 20 flares, as well as crowd-frightening detonators, during a match against Melbourne Victory at Etihad Stadium in February this year.The ban was due to expire next February but will continue until after the last round of the regular season in April.Melbourne Victory are also sweating under the threat of a points deduction until next February for crowd trouble.The incident was a bum note in an otherwise stunning opening round, which attracted a league-record 106,365 attendees to the five matches. ' ' '