The Pirates got the bounce — and break — they needed to beat the Mets Sunday night.

Here’s a clip of the play made by second baseman Brandon Inge after Lucas Duda hit a hard grounder down the first-base line. The ball hit the bag at first and caromed into the air. Inge fielded it and fired to first to retire the Mets, who had runners on second and third.

If the Mets score two, the Pirates likely lose.

Like they say, sometimes it’s better to be lucky than good.

– Rick Green

You can safely put Frank Francisco into the group of players to avoid on draft day.

Francisco, who looked like the closer for the Mets heading into spring training, is not throwing because of elbow inflammation.

That’s a significant warning sign at the start of spring training, so the situation needs to be monitored.

The news puts Bobby Parnell on the list of sleeper relievers and relievers to target as you prepare for your fantasy baseball drafts.

– Rick Green (follow me on Twitter @ETNrgreen)

The players and coaches who comprise Eastern League rosters in 2014 should consider getting passports.

The Ottawa Citizen has reported that an Eastern League franchise will begin play that year in Canada’s capital. The article prominantly mentioned the Erie SeaWolves, based on their traditionally low attendance figures, as a prime candidate for such a switch.

Others cited were the Binghamton Mets, who were 12th in attendance for 2012, and the New Hampshire Fisher Cats, whose parent club is the Toronto Blue Jays.

Earlier this year, the SeaWolves extended contracts with the Erie County Convention Center Authority and the Detroit Tigers through 2014.

– Mike Copper

The Erie SeaWolves’ 57-84 record for 2012 was reflective in their overall attendance at Jerry Uht Park.

Total of 208,725 fans turned out for Erie’s 69 home games. Their average of 3,025, 11th in the 12-team Eastern League, was their worst going back to 2004.

The Binghamton Mets were last in average (2,984).

Richmond drew the most fans during the regular season (438,002). However, the Flying Squirrels had 70 home games to Reading’s 67.

The Phillies still led the league in average (6,368).

– Mike Copper

The Erie SeaWolves released their official 2013 Eastern League schedule before Saturday night’s game against the Altoona Curve at Jerry Uht Park.

Coincidence or not, those teams also will open next season on the same diamond. Erie welcomes the Curve for the first four games of a seven-game homestand, with the opener set for April 4 at 6:35 p.m.

Erie’s full 2013 schedule, with starting times for all games at Uht Park, is listed below.

– Mike Copper

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Starting lineups for Monday’s Eastern League game between the Akron Aeros and the Erie SeaWolves at Jerry Uht Park:

Akron Aeros (75-51): 1. Tyler Holt CF, 2. Jordan Henry RF, 3. Chun Chen 1B, 4. Nick Weglarz LF, 5. Jesus Aguilar DH, 6. Matt Lawson 2B, 7. Ryan Rohlinger SS, 8. Roberto Perez C, 9. Carlos Rojas 3B.

Starting pitcher: LH T.J. House (7-3, 3.43 ERA).

Erie SeaWolves (53-73): 1. Jamie Johnson LF, 2. Niuman Romero SS, 3. Nick Castellanos RF, 4. Jordan Lennerton 1B, 5. Avisail Garcia CF, 6. Rawley Bishop 3B, 7. Tony Plagman DH, 8. Brandon Douglas 2B, 9. James McCann C.

Starting pitcher: RH Patrick Cooper (2-8, 5.26 ERA).

– Mike Copper

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Starting lineups for Friday’s Eastern League game between the Harrisburg Senators and the Erie SeaWolves at Jerry Uht Park:

Harrisburg Senators (56-68): 1. Brian Goodwin CF, 2. Jose Lozada 2B, 3. Justin Bloxom LF, 4. Jimmy Van Ostrand DH, 5. Anthony Rendon 3B, 6. Destin Hood RF, 7. Seth Bynum SS, 8. Tim Pahuta 1B, 9. Kris Watts C.

Starting pitcher: Ryan Perry RH (1-3, 2.00 ERA).

Erie SeaWolves (53-70): 1. Jamie Johnson CF, 2. Niuman Romero SS, 3. Nick Castellanos RF, 4. Jordan Lennerton 1B, 5. Avisail Garcia DH, 6. Daniel Fields LF, 7. Rawley Bishop 3B, 8. Corey Jones 2B, 9. James McCann C.

Starting pitcher: Jared Gayhart RH (1-2, 4.19 ERA)

– Mike Copper

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It was only one inning, but it was bad enough to spoil the other eight.

The Erie SeaWolves committed a wild pitch, a passed ball and a fielding error in the top of the fourth of Wednesday’s matinee game against Bowie. Starting pitcher Patrick Cooper also allowed the Baysox three hits, a walk and a hit batsman during their rally, which they made hold up for a 5-2 victory at Jerry Uht Park.

The loss was the SeaWolves’ sixth in their last seven games. It left them 45-51 going into an eight-game, seven-day road trip to Altoona and Akron.

– Mike Copper

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Starting lineups for Monday’s Eastern League game between the Bowie Baysox and the Erie SeaWolves at Jerry Uht Park:

Bowie Baysox (46-47): 1. Antoan Richardson CF, 2. Jonathan Schoop 2B, 3. Josh Barfield LF, 4. Robbie Widlansky DH, 5. Manny Machado SS, 6. Rhyne Hughes 1B, 7. Buck Britton 3B, 8. Jai Miller RF, 9. Allan de San Miguel C.

Starting pitcher: Tim Bascom RH (4-5, 4.03 ERA).

Erie SeaWolves (44-49): 1. Niuman Romero SS, 2. Brandon Douglas 2B, 3. Nick Castellanos RF, 4. Jordan Lennerton 1B, 5. Rawley Bishop LF, 6. Avisail Garcia CF, 7. Tony Plagman DH, 8. James McCann C, 9. Corey Jones 3B.

Starting pitcher: Cesar Carrillo (1-1, 4.97 ERA).

– Mike Copper

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Center fielder Jamie Johnson returned from a heel injury to help the Erie SeaWolves beat Binghamton 5-3 Saturday night at Jerry Uht Park.

Johnson, who sat out the SeaWolves’ previous three games, had two hits and scored twice in his return to the lineup. He was one of four players with two hits for Erie, which evened its record at 36-36.

Niuman Romero, Nick Castellanos and James McCann were the others. Castellanos launched a solo home run off Mets starter Greg Peavey in the bottom of the fourth inning.

– Mike Copper

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