Travis Ishikawa drives in 4 as Pirates outslug Royals 10

The Royals cut the lead to 7-4 in the fifth when Morales homered off the right field foul pole with Hosmer aboard.

1 run, 4 hits, 0 errors, 3 left on.

The 378-foot, fifth-inning shot into the Royals bullpen was Ishikawa’s first home run in a Pirates uniform since April 4, 2014, before the Giants selected him off waivers and he won a World Series ring. Minutes later, a befuddled Starling Marte found himself standing at second base, credited with a ground-rule double on account of the ball first hitting the wall in fair territory and then landing over a different section of the wall. Alex Rios stroked what should have been a single, but Omar Infante was already aggressively rounding seCond on his way to third and McCutchen opted to throw to third.

The Pirates and the Royals bats were very quiet on Tuesday night.

Medlen struck out the first two Pirates before yielding a home run to Ishikawa. However, Pirates shortstop Jordy Mercer sprained his left MCL during Sunday’s game against the Brewers when center fielder Carlos Gomez slid into him at second. Game 2: Cole is another guy who made the ASG and is having a sensational season so far and is up there in wins and ERA. With Rodriguez at third it means Ishikawa might get more starts at first, and potentially the chance to keep hitting like he did Monday night. Rios doubled to left. Rios advanced to second and Infante was safe at third. The Pirates beat a good team and the Royals wouldn’t let the Pirates breathe. Officially, it was the first steal of home (exclusive of a double steal) against the Pirates since Houston Astros slugger Jeff Bagwell did it August 18, 2001.

“Our game plan coming in was getting their pitcher to throw strikes”, Pittsburgh manager Clint Hurdle said.

Mets 7, Nationals 2 • Pinch-hitter Eric Campbell put visiting New York ahead with his two-run single in the seventh, and a stagnant Mets lineup finally came through with several clutch hits to back Jacob deGrom.

Markakis hit a two-run homer off former teammate Brandon Beachy in the first inning, going long for the first time since leaving the Baltimore Orioles. The Pirates are 7-3 in RHP Charlie Morton’s 10 starts.

Royals starter Jason Vargas left in the second inning after throwing 26 pitches with pain in his left elbow and will undergo a MRI Wednesday to detect the extent of the injury.

In the bottom of the seventh inning the Pirates got into some deep trouble. Bastardo pitching. Stewart in as catcher. The next two runs scored on Antonio Bastardo’s watch via a triple and a run-scoring groundout. Pirates 8, Royals 7.

Blanton, Ryan Madson, Kelvin Herrera, and Wade Davis combined to shut down the Pirates’ offense from that point forward, striking out eight while allowing just three hits and one walk through the end of the eighth inning.

Greg Holland survived a shaky ninth, allowing a run on four hits and a walk, but struck out Gregory Polanco with the bases loaded for his 21st save in 24 opportunities.

Pittsburgh Pirates’ Gregory Polanco runs home to score on a two-run triple hit by Neil Walker during the eighth inning of a baseball game against the Kansas City Royals, Monday, July 20, 2015, in Kansas City, Mo.