Brandon Cumpton lost Ethier with one gone on a 3-2 sinker that was just tight. A grounder moved him to second, and it cost. Hanley Ramirez looked at one sinker down the middle, then banged the next, maybe a bit more center cut, into center to give LA a 1-0 lead. He stole second, followed by Adrian Gonzalez drawing a walk on a 3-2 slider that missed badly. Matt Kemp smacked a thigh high, inside half sinker into left, and it was 2-0. Cumpton tried to mix his pitches, but didn't have much command of his off speed stuff and was leaving his sinker up in the zone, and he paid this inning.
Jordy Mercer singled with two gone in the second and Stewart followed with a swinging bunt knock. Cumpton bounced out, but at least the order turned over. Brandon's location was better against the 8-9-1 part of the order, and he got a couple of grounders and a whiff. Ryu tossed a 1-2-3 third; Cutch again hit the ball hard, but it was another loud out, this time to the RF track.
Ethier opened drilled a 3-2 sinker to left; Starling Marte muffed the catch when he he couldn't hang on to the ball after he bumped into the wall for an error - maybe if the Pirates had their challenge left, they could have used it there -and Andre ended up on second. Puig singled softly off Mercer's glove, and it was beginning to look like NY all over again. Ramirez singled in a run, Gonzalez doubled home another, and the dam was ready to burst. And it did; a sac fly and Justin Turner knock made it 6-0.
Ryu gave up a single to JT with two down, and Mercer doubled him home to make it 6-1. Gordon started the LA half with a triple. After a pop out, Gordon was cut down at home on a Puig grounder. Well, so much for that Houdini; Ramirez homered to make it 8-1. That was followed by back-to-back-to-back singles for another run. Jeanmar Gomez mercifully came on at that point, hoping to prevent the mercy rule from coming into play. He couldn't; Butera tripled off him to make it 11-1. Gomez did get Ryu to finally end the onslaught.
Gomez singled and Josh doubled to start the fifth. The Bucs couldn't get either one home; Ramirez's leaping grab of a Walker liner was followed by Gomez being thrown out at home on a Cutch grounder to third, pretty much killing the inning. Sheesh. Jeanmar settled in, picking up a couple of K.
JT and Stewart singled in the sixth, and with two down Clint sent up Travis Snider. We'd have kept Gomez in to save the pen, but hey - it's more fun to watch Travis against a lefty, and he even singled to chase a run home. The player shuffle began as Cutch got a blow, as did The Kid, who has started every game. Bryon Morris came in and gave the run right back when LA's first hitter, Ramirez, went yard again.
Jamey Wright came on; Ryu was at 109 pitches and 10 hits. The game wound down quietly from that point, with Wright shutting out the Bucs while Morris and Jared Hughes tossed goose eggs for a final 12-2 tally.
Cumpton couldn't get an offspeed pitch over the dish and his sinkers all came in at the belt. That's a recipe for batting practice, and that's what the Dodgers had tonight; pity it was on national TV.
The series finale will feature Edinson Volquez and Zack Greinke on ESPN 2.
- The 6-through-1 hitters for Pittsburgh had 11 hits and accounted for both runs. They were more than offset by Hanley Ramirez, who has hit safely in his last six at-bats, jumping his BA from .242 to .265 after going 4-for-4 tonight with two HR, five RBI and four runs.
- Neil Walker's hit streak ended at 11 games.
- Bryon Morris in May: 12 appearances, 12-2/3IP, 8 ER, 15H (3 HR), 10 BB, 2 HBP, 5.53 ERA.
- Before the game, Clint Hurdle said Jason Grilli wouldn't be available tonight and Mark Melancon was up in the air. He picked a good day to put them on R&R.
- 3B Matt "The Hitman" Hague has reached base in 20 straight games for Indy.
No comments:
Post a Comment