BASEBALL DAILY REPORT : AROUND THE MAJOR LEAGUES : Mets’ Pecota Makes History in Loss

Bill Pecota became the first position player to pitch in a regular-season game in the New York Mets’ 30-year history, working the eighth inning of the Pittsburgh Pirates’ 19-2 victory Saturday.

Pecota, an infielder, yielded a leadoff homer to Andy Van Slyke, then retired William Pennyfeather on a fly ball, Kevin Young on a grounder and Albert Martin on a pop up. The three batters who made the outs are rookies.

Met Manager Jeff Torborg said Van Slyke’s homer into the right-field seats proved Pecota had good velocity.

“You have to have pretty good arm strength to throw one that far,” he said.

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Groundskeepers labored to resod the Oakland Coliseum outfield in time for the Athletics’ next home game after a rampage by turf-tossing heavy metal music fans.

Concert goers Thursday ripped up a protective blanket and threw torn-out chunks of sod on each other between sets by Guns N’ Roses, Metallica and Ice-T with Body Count. The bands reportedly paid $50,000 to cover the damage.

Head groundskeeper Mark Razum said the field would be playable by Tuesday night, when the A’s are to play host to the Texas Rangers. But he said there could be some bad bounces.

The A’s are one victory away from clinching the AL West title. The first playoff game at the Coliseum would be on Oct. 10.

About 62,000 people attended the concert. Oakland Coliseum executive Robert Quintella said the damage was intentional but not malicious: “It was just a big game out there, you know, like how kids start a food fight.”