LA Bombs & Quiet Bucco Bats = 5-0 Loss

A brief but juicy storm hit Pittsburgh an hour before game time, causing a 50-minute delay to blow-dry the field. After a moment of silence for Bruce Kison, Joe Musgrove silenced the Dodgers, striking out the side. Ross Stripling returned the favor, getting three grounders. The duel didn't last long - a single and Joc Pederson dinger to right put LA up in the second. No surprise there; Pederson has faced J-Grove three times and that's his third homer. Corey D slapped an 0-2 shoe top curve into left for the Bucs first knock with an out for a short-lived rally; Red Beard looked at a borderline strike three call (close enough to offer) and Corey was tossed out trying to steal. The Dodgers opened the third with back-to-pick singles;S-Rod whiffed on a pickoff try, moving the runners up 90'. It hurt; a sac fly brought a run home. On the bright side, Joe did finally retire Pederson. Stripling K'ed the bottom of the order and they all looked bad, with only Musgrove having a good excuse. Yasiel Puig took a 1-2 fastball deep to start the fourth as the City of Angels keeps pulling away. Austin Meadows lined one through the box and off Stripling's mitt for a knock with one gone but went nowhere.

J-Grove was just a regular Joe tonight (photo Pittsburgh Pirates)

In the fifth, plate ump Jim Reynolds squeezed the plate on J-Grove, but he got through unscathed with just a walk. Corey D led off with a knock and a dropped flip on a grounder put the Bucs in business. Gregory K'ed and S-Rod popped out. Pinch hitter Starling punched a single directly at Puig to load the sacks. J-Hay went after the first pitch and flew out to close down rally time. Tyler Glasnow worked the sixth. With two outs and a 3-1 count on Cody Bellinger, he tried to blow a fastball past him; it ended up in the center field shrubs. Scott Alexander took the ball and got four grounders, one an infield knock by Cervy. Ty gave up a walk and steal in the seventh but no tallies. Josh Field breezed through the Bucco half. Ric Rod threw a clean eighth. Pedro Baez gave up a leadoff walk to Fraze followed by a Harrison knock, then got AM on a loud out to center. Cervy also flew out to center and Fraze, down by five runs, tried to tag and was thrown out. Maybe he never took Little League 101. Felipe Vazquez tossed a clean ninth with two K's. Insult to injury? Daniel Hudson came in to polish off Pittsburgh. He got the first two outs easily (he fanned Corey D, whom he was traded for) then gave up a couple of bullets, one that found grass and one that found leather.

Facing guys like Stripling and Wacha back-to-back isn't a fun thing, and the Bucs make it more painful by rarely sending out their best eight players. S-Rod has turned into an unearned run machine lately and Gregory has hit some hard outs but is still flirting with the Mendoza line. Red Beard may or may not be capable of banging southpaws, and we'll never know as he sits whenever one is on the hill. Joey O is at Indy, so there's no one here to give J-Bell a couple of days to sit down, get in the cage and try to figure it out. C'est la vie; we remember the good ol' days when the Pirates had a consistent lineup and were kicking butt.

Corey D keeps on keepin' on (photo Pittsburgh Pirates)

Notes:

• Corey Dickerson had his 18th multi-hit game and his third in four games. It should come as no surprise; he had 51 for Tampa Bay last year.
• The Pirates are at .500 (30-30) for the first time this year.
• Sean Rodriguez was a late addition (during the rain delay) to the lineup, replacing Jordy, who became the third Buc after Amore and J-Hay to miss time with the flu bug.  
• Mason Wittner of MLB.com has today's picks in the draft (rounds 3-10). They were all college guys; we assume that the FO hopes to save a few bucks from the pool that they can allocate to a couple of prep players in tomorrow's go-around.
• West Virginia Power RF Calvin Mitchell and C Deon Stafford were named to the South Atlantic League (Sally League) All-Star team. Mitchell is hitting .319 with seven homers/32 RBI and Stafford's line is .264 with four homers/19 RBI.
• Pitt RHPs RJ Freure and Matt Pidich were selected in the sixth and eighth rounds of the draft today. Reliever Freure (4-1, 4.30) is a sophomore fastball/curve guy who is going to the 'Stros while Pidich, a senior who missed a year after TJ surgery as a soph, was 6-2, 3.05. The Pitt ace struck out 99 in 91 IP and is heading to Cincinnati.