Marte Party, Locke-Down: Bucs Take 9-4 Win

We'll give ya the quick version this morning: Bam! Smash! Pow! The Bucs turned Joe Saunders every way but loose, Starling Marte had himself a night and Jeff Locke was, well, Jeff Locke. When the smoke cleared, the 9-4 Bucco win was a laugher from the get-go.

Marte tripled to right to open the game, and Jordy Mercer's grounder to the right side got him in. In the second, the Bucs flexed their generally dormant muscles and drove Saunders to the shower.

Russell Martin opened the festivities with a homer to right center. With an out, Tony Sanchez singled and The Kid drew a walk. In a sign that everything was working today, Brandon Inge launched a liner pretty deep into the LF stands, and the rout was on. Marte homered on the next pitch, and a two out double by Cutch ended Saunder's night; Blake Bevan took the bump with the score 6-0. A knock, walk, and two-out single cost Locke a run in the second.

Innings three through five went by quietly, with neither team advancing a runner past second. Inge doubled in the sixth and came around on Mercer's single-and-error dribbler up the left side. Kyle Seage got that back with a homer to right, and after six it was 7-2.

The Pirates added on with solo shots by Gaby and Starling off Carter Capps, while the Mariners got a two run, two out Justin Smoak dinger in the ninth off Bryan Morris to make the final 9-4. Locke went seven, giving up two runs on four hits with two walks and four K tossing 104 pitches. His record is now 7-1 with a 2.06 ERA. Pretty good stuff for a guy who was just keeping a seat warm in the rotation out of camp. 

Jeanmar Gomez takes on King Felix Hernandez in today's get-away game.

• Starling Marte went 3-for-5 with two homers, a triple, three runs and two RBI. Brandon Inge went 2-for-3 with a homer and double, three RBI and two runs. Cutch and Gaby also had a pair of hits.
• The Pirates homered five times, but Pedro didn't join in the fun, ending his HR streak at four games. He did double, and now owns a nine game hitting streak. The longest of his career is 11.
• The Bucs extended their winning streak to five, the longest of the year.
• Wandy Rodriguez will make a second rehab start for Indy, not totally unexpected as the Bucs have an off day Thursday. Gerrit Cole, Francisco Liriano and Charlie Morton will go against the Brewers over the weekend.