Pirates Ride Big Frame and Cole Train To 5-3 Win; Marte Hurt, Ishikawa Claimed

Two of league premier fireballers, Gerrit Cole and Danny Salazar, traded zeroes in the first. That wasn't to be in the next couple of frames. Cole Train gave up a leadoff walk followed by a single in the second, but looked to be past them when he coaxed a DP ball. Not to be; a single, stolen base and then another knock made it 2-0. The Tribe added on in the third on a double, bunt, and single to jump ahead 3-0.

Meanwhile, Salazar was toasting the Bucs. After four innings, it was 3-0, and Pittsburgh had but one hit to go with seven whiffs. Then the fifth happened. It was quiet for Cleveland, but noisy for the Pirates.

JHK opened with a knock and trotted home when El Toro tore the cover of a 97 MPH, 1-2 heater and dumped it over The Notch to make it 3-2. After an out, Stew singled on a call that review had to make (he clearly beat it out). A bunt moved him up, and the two-out dance began. Josh legged out a bleeder, then The Kid tied it with a liner to center. Cutch drove them both home when he slammed a changeup off the bullpen fence for a double. That was it for Salazar and the scoring.

Gerrit Cole on a roll (photo Charles LeClaire/USA Today)

The Buc bats were apparently wore out after that big frame. Cole wasn't; he was still hitting 100 in the eighth, 105 pitches into the game, and left with 16 straight Indians retired. Mark the Shark tossed a quiet ninth, and the Bucs claimed the series with a 5-3 victory.

Nice way to enjoy a Sunday. Now the San Diego Padres come to town with AJ opening the three game set against Big Game James Shields.

• Cutch extended his hitting streak to 12 games and The Kid's is now at nine. 
• The Pirates as a team had eight hits; six were in the fifth inning.
• Gerrit Cole reached 12 wins before the All-Star Game, a deed done only four previous times in franchise history. The last Pirate hurler to hit that mark was Ken Brett in 1974; the most wins was 14 by Dock Ellis in 1971.
• Starling Marte left the game with the dreaded "left side discomfort" after a swing in the fourth inning and will be reevaluated tomorrow. Hopefully, it's not an oblique issue.
• Pedro's homer was his first with a runner on base since last season.
• Greogory Polanco is now 0 for his last 12 at bats.
• The Pirates claimed 1B Travis Ishikawa off waivers from the San Francisco Giants. No, we don't know why either. They'll make their roster moves when he arrives in Pittsburgh. We assume he'll just be a pinch hitter, but calling up Jaff Decker seems like a more useful move to us.
• For those on the Clayton Richard watch, he won his first game with the Cubs yesterday, going 6-1/3 IP against Miami. He gave up two runs on eight hits and a walk with four whiffs. It was his first MLB win since June 16th, 2013 as a Padre, defeating Arizona 4-1.
• The Brewers have won eight straight and 11 of their last 13 games. They're still 36-48.