, Oct. 1 (UPI) -- Jimmy Anderson pitched eight strong inniings and Gary Matthews Jr., homered and drove in three runs Monday night as the Pittsburgh Pirates handed the New York Mets a critical 5-1 loss.
The defeat means the best New York can do is tie for the National League East title as the Mets fell 4 ½ games behind first-place Atlanta and 2 ½ behind Philadelphia.
Anderson (9-17) continued his recent stretch of good pitching, yielding just one run and four hits. The lefthander is 3-1 in his last four starts with a 2.67 ERA.
After Craig Wilson led off the second inning with a single, Matthews followed with his 14th homer over the left-field bleachers off Mets starter Glendon Rusch (8-11) for a 2-0 lead.
New York got back one run in its half of the inning when Todd Zeile reached on an infield hit and scored on a double by Robin Ventura.
The Pirates regained a two-run cushion when Aramis Ramirez led off the fourth with a double, took third on a single by Wilson and scored on a sacrifice fly by Matthews.
Pittsburgh added a pair of runs in the sixth off Dicky Gonzalez. Wilson, Matthews and Kevin Young greeted the rookie reliever with singles to make it 4-1 and Mendy Lopez added a sacrifice fly.
After reliever Rich Loiselle allowed a pair of runners to reach to begin the bottom of the ninth, Scott Sauerbeck got the last three outs for his second save in four chances.
