Bucs Brawl But Brewers Win 3-2 In Fourteen

Very depressing day at the old ballyard. Gerrit Cole had a 1-0 lead going into the eighth on Neil Walker's fourth inning homer until Mark Reynolds turned a heater into a homer to tie the score. The Bucs reclaimed the edge in their half when JT brought home Ike Davis on a two-out infield single that withstood a review, the third straight two-out knock by the Bucs.

But Pittsburgh couldn't withstand Ryan Braun, who slammed a high slider from Jason Grilli into the stands. Clint Hurdle had an option of keeping in Cole, who was working on a six hitter and was at 91 pitches, but that's a 50-50 call. The skipper opted for his closer, maybe to give him a boost of confidence after blowing last night's save. If so, bad bit of psychology.

In the fourteenth, Jeanmar Gomez hung a hook to Khris Davis and he dropped it over the fence, and that was it for the Bucs who fell 3-2.

There was some action, though. In the third with two out, Carlos Gomez pounded a ball to center, which he admired after flipping his bat. It cost him in a couple ways, the first being that it hit the wall and took a big hop so he got a triple instead circling the bases.

Cole had a word with him at third, and Go-Go went after him, restrained by ump Jim Reynolds and 3B Josh Harrison. That started a charge from the Bucco bench, and Travis Snider, Russ Martin and company shoved Gomez to the turf. Then while Snider was being held, Martin Maldonado suckered him. When the smoke cleared, Gomez (strike two) was ejected, along with Brewer third base coach Jerry Narron and Snider.

There were plenty of opps begging for someone to be clutch. The two teams were 1-for-14 combined with RISP and stranded 21 runners. Might be time to keep an eye on Grilli after back-to-back blown leads; it's not like there aren't back-end options already in the pen. And it's surely about time to string together a couple of wins.

Mike Leake goes against Francisco Liriano tomorrow night as the Reds visit for a four-game set.

• Jason Grilli has blown three saves in seven tries this month.
• Starling Marte, Cutch and Ike Davis went 2-for-19 with six K today.
• Pittsburgh has lost 8-of-10 games.
• Neil Walker leads the majors with 4 HRs this week.
• David Todd of The Fan tweeted that "GM Neal Huntington suggests the PTBNL in the Ike Davis trade will come from a list given to the Mets." That, of course, doesn't preclude any of the 2013 draftees, so until the Mets claim their man, that quote doesn't slow down the speculation.