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NEW YORK -- Hard to imagine one day on the job was truly enough for new Mets hitting coach Lamar Johnson to make much of a difference. It only looked that way. Juan Lagares drove in two runs, Vic Black gave the bullpen a boost and New York finally managed some timely hits Tuesday night in a 4-2 victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates. "We were hoping wed have a good homestand," Mets manager Terry Collins said. "Weve played well. We just havent hit and driven in the big runs. To have a game like tonight I thought was important." Daniel Murphy doubled twice and No. 8 batter Ruben Tejada reached base all four times up to help the Mets win for only the fourth time in 13 games. The victory came one day after batting coach Dave Hudgens was fired and replaced by Johnson, who had been New Yorks minor league hitting co-ordinator. Black (1-0) got four big outs in his first major league outing this season, and Jenrry Mejia pitched two innings for his fourth save. With a runner on, Curtis Granderson made an outstanding catch in the right-field corner for the second out of the ninth. Mejia then walked Andrew McCutchen and retired Mets nemesis Gaby Sanchez on a game-ending grounder. "We lined out multiple times. Some nights, thats just the way it is," Pittsburgh manager Clint Hurdle said. Starling Marte hit a two-run single for the Pirates, hurt by four wild pitches in losing for the second time in seven games. With the score 2-all, Tejada drew his second walk to start the sixth. He advanced on two wild pitches by Jeanmar Gomez (0-2) and scored when Lagares flicked a single over a drawn-in infield. Murphy followed with an RBI double to make it 4-2. "Lagares had a great at-bat," Murphy said. "Got some timely hitting and I think some really good baserunning out there as well, too, so its a good win." Black struck out Sanchez with runners at the corners to end the seventh. Pittsburgh had first and third again in the eighth when Mejia got pinch-hitter Pedro Alvarez to ground into an inning-ending double play. "Now Im ready for any situation," Mejia said. Handed a 2-0 lead, Mets starter Jonathon Niese let it slip away. Normally a fast worker, Niese slowed his pace considerably as he walked three batters in the sixth. Martes bases-loaded single tied it, but Black struck out pinch-hitter Ike Davis with the bases loaded to end the inning. It was a matchup that pitted two players against their former teams. Black was acquired from Pittsburgh last August, and the Mets traded Davis to the Pirates last month. Black was expected to be in the Mets bullpen at the start of the season, but was shipped to the minors after a rough spring. The right-hander got called up as the roster addition for Sundays doubleheader against Arizona, then sent back down immediately after the games. He went to meet Triple-A Las Vegas in El Paso, Texas, but quickly turned around when the Mets recalled him late Monday to replace reliever Jose Valverde, who was released. Functioning on little sleep, Black took an early flight back to New York on Tuesday and showed up at the ballpark ready to pitch. "Vic got out of it for me and he did a great job," Niese said. "The way it started off, I felt like I could go seven or eight today, kind of save the bullpen. Thats why I was angry with the sixth." Pirates starter Edinson Volquez walked five and threw two wild pitches in five innings, extending his struggles on the road. "Thats what youre supposed to do, keep the game close. But I know walks killed me tonight," Volquez said. Murphy doubled in the third and scored on Bobby Abreus two-out single. Tejada and Lagares both doubled off the wall in left field in the fourth to make it 2-0. Lagares made a leaping catch of McCutchens drive at the 390-foot sign in right-centre to end the first inning. McCutchen returned the favour with a spectacular, diving grab to rob Lagares of extra bases in the third. "They kind of traded them, didnt they?" Hurdle said. "We just couldnt find gaps. Good plays by the centre fielders, as good as youre going to see." NOTES: Hurdle said hes looking to get a day off soon for 2B Neil Walker, who has started all 51 games this season. ... After a setback Sunday, Mets RHP Dillon Gee (strained lat) is headed to the teams complex in Florida to continue his rehabilitation. He said it will probably be a few days before he tries to get on the mound again. "Were going to go with the slow-and-steady approach this time," he said. ... Mets C Travis dArnaud (concussion) went 0 for 1 with a walk in a rehab game for Double-A Binghamton. He was scheduled to catch seven innings, but the game was suspended after two innings because of rain. As long as he got his work in and felt OK, dArnaud was expected to be activated Wednesday or Thursday. ... Rap star 50 Cent was comically off target with the ceremonial first pitch. Stitched Baltimore Ravens Jerseys . During halftime, Love told The Associated Press he would receive treatment Saturday night and hoped to play Monday night against Houston. "I knew that my quad was bothering me pretty bad so I went out there and tried to move around a little bit and it just wasnt quite right," Love said. Authentic Baltimore Ravens Jerseys . -- Challenged for the first time under Major League Baseballs expanded replay system, umpires got it right. http://www.cheapravens.com/. -- Caris LeVert had 14 points and a career-high 11 rebounds for his first career double-double, and No. Custom Ravens Jerseys . Atletico Madrid made it three wins from three thanks to a double from in-form striker Diego Costa in a 3-0 victory at Austria Vienna, leaving the Spanish side on the brink of the last 16 already to continue its brilliant start to the season. Cheap Baltimore Ravens Jerseys Online . - Even with a new coach, the Denver Nuggets still love to push the basketball.Best goalie mask: There were some great masks from Nordiques goaltenders.Ron Hextall:(Image via Pro Hockey FR)Jocelyn Thibault:(Image via Tenders Lounge)Stephane Fiset:(Image via Goalies Archive)Best moustache: Michel Goulet(Image via Jsportsblogger)(Image via The Score)Best/Worst mullet: Chris Lindberg(Image via Mile High Hockey)Did you know? Montreal Canadiens anthem singer Ginette Reno had previously performed at a Nordiques game.Do they have a goal song? Why yes they do. Its incredibly campy.Did they have a mascot? Yes, its name was Badaboum.(Image via Flickr)Biggest fight: Ah, the provincial rivalry: Montreal vs Quebec. Things often got testy, for example this bench clearing brawl.Best trade:(Image via Melt Your Faceoff)In what arguably is one of the best trades in NHL history, the Nordiques traded the rights to Eric Lindros (who didnt want to play with the team) to the Philadelphia Flyers for the rights to Peter Forsberg, Ron Hextall, Chris Simon, Mike Ricci, Kerry Huffman, Steve Duchesne, a 1993 1st round selection (which turned out to be Jocelyn Thibault) a 1994 1st round pick (traded to Toronto) and $15 million dollars. The trade ultimately shaped the 1996 Stanley Cup winning Colorado Avalanche.Check out the TSN special on the deal.What would the Nordiques new logo look like if they hadnt moved? The team ran this new logo in the Canadian press they would have used had they not moved to Colorado(Images via Wikipedia)Last game: May 16, 1995. The Quebec Nordiques fell to the New York Rangers 4-2 in Game 6 of their first round series.Captain: Joe Sakic(Image via Denver Post)Whyd the move? The team faced serious financial problems, despite having a fairly stable fan base. With the weakened Canadian dollar, the team just couldnt compete against American teams. Eventually the team was sold to the same owners of Denver Nuggets, and the team became the Colorado Avalanche.What does a former player have to say?Goaltender Ron Tugnutt(Image via Goalies Archive)What was it like to be a member of the Nordiques?It was pretty cool acctually.dddddddddddd I loved the city and the culture. Theres a fortunate and an unfortunate; for me they were going through a youth movement change therefore I got to crack the lineup at a young age. At 20 I was playing in the NHL, which was nice. The downside was that we were going through that youth change and there was a lot of losing that was taking place. In general though, it was a great experience.What was it like to play in the Quebec market?It was great. I did pick up some French along the way, I took it in school, but once youre living their, you tend to improve. The old part of downtown was very French and ordering food and dinner was tough, but the culture was fantastic. It was a great place to start my career.What was the best part about playing there?I think playing my first NHL game would be the highlight, because everybodys dream is to play in the NHL, so it was cool to accomplish that. My biggest highlight was meeting a lot of good friends - they were all young guys – and getting to know each other and stuff. I think that would be a huge highlight for me in Quebec City. Its hard; I enjoyed my time there. I have no problem with being there at all.Do you think hockey could thrive in that market again?Yeah, with the cap world they might be able too. For small market teams, its always going to be hard to keep all of your players, like in Winnipeg and Ottawa, because its difficult because there is bigger money elsewhere.Was it tough being in the same market as Montreal?No not at all because that was the rivalry, to me those were some of the best games to play. We never knew what would happen on those nights. It was always a very physical match. I thought that was a great thing to be so close to Montreal and be in that same market. 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