Presley opened the game with a homer on the second pitch, his first MLB lead off blast. It would be the first of twenty-five hits and seventeen runs tallied between the two clubs.
The Brew Crew shrugged that run off and positioned themselves for a big opening frame. Charlie Morton was greeted by pair of singles and a double to quickly tie the game, and a walk to Prince Fielder jammed the sacks with no outs. He reached back, K'ing Ricky Weeks and getting Jerry Hairston to bang into an around the horn DP to escape without any further damage.
Pittsburgh got rolling in the second. Garrett Jones walked and Jason Jaramillo rolled a seeing eye single into right. A broken bat bloop by Pedro drove home a run, and a Chase d'Arnaud slow roller to second brought in another. A Morton bunt and Presley knock made it 4-1.
The game rolled along quietly until the bottom of the fourth when the Brew Crew smacked three doubles to make it a 4-3 game. The Bucs answered in their next at-bat.
Xavier Paul led off the fifth with a triple, and a pair of one-out walks loaded the bases. Pedro doubled home two runners and a wild pitch brought in another as the Bucs went up 7-3 on Shaun Marcum.
Morton couldn't stand success; his own wildness let Milwaukee back in the game when a hit batter and walk plated on a two out double by Yuniesky Betancourt. That was Morton's last call. He went five, giving up five runs on eight hits with three walks and K's, not a particularly memorable finish to the season.
The Bucs scored once again in the sixth. Pedro Ciriaco drew a lead off walk as pinch hitter, stole second, and touched the dish after Neil Walker's two out single. Two walks juiced the sacks, but JJ was called out on strikes to end the threat with the Pirates up 8-5.
The Brewers weren't fazed; they worked their way through the Bucco bullpen in the sixth to knot the score. The bases were empty with two outs before the wheels dropped off the Buc's buggy. Jared Hughes gave up a walk and a single, Tony Watson a knock, and Chris Leroux surrendered a double and two walks, the last with the bases loaded to force in a run. D-Mac got the final out, a screamer hit at d'Arnaud, who made a leaping grab of the bullet to keep the score tied.
The Bucs retook the lead off of Takashi Saito in their next dibs. Mike McKenry drew a two out walk and crossed the plate on Presley's double. That would be the game winner, but not without a couple of tense moments.
D-Mac threw a clean seventh, and Jason Grilli took the ball. A walk and two beaned batters - hey, it is Milwaukee, right? - juiced the sacks with one away. He coaxed a couple of pop outs to escape the jam and set up Hanny time.
He gave up a lead off single, and two wild pitches later the Brewers had a runner on third with no outs. Hanrahan came up with a big K followed by an even bigger bounce out to The Pittsburgh Kid. With the infield in, he went home and cut down the tying run to preserve the Bucs 9-8 win and finally put an end to the four hour plus marathon.
Presley and Pedro led the way with three RBI apiece. The Bucs struck out ten more times. Not only are they adding to a franchise record for K's in a season, but should surpass 1,300 K's by Wednesday.
RHP Ross Ohlendorf (1-3, 8.29) faces LHP Randy Wolf (13-10, 3.61) at 8:10 PM tonight. The game will be aired on Root Sports.
- Andrew McCutchen was off yesterday after being hit by a BP liner before the game. He should be good to go tonight.
- Dewey has been off, too. He took a foul off the mask last game out, and the Bucs have been cautious about putting him back behind the dish with his concussion history, especially at this late point in the season.
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