After a clean fifth by Gerrit, the Bucs finally stirred. Matt Joyce led off with a homer - and it was crushed, 442', to the top row in right center & a bounce onto the River Walk - followed by a JHK single. A wild pitch moved him up a notch, but that's as far as the rally went when Eric Fryer's two out ball into right was captured by Scott Schebler. Votto walked with an out in the sixth, and that, of course, led to another run after a force, steal and dying quail to right by Brandon Phillips. That ended Cole Train's day as Antonio Bastardo finished the frame. Josh got that back when he whistled an outside, ankle-high pitch past the LF pole.
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| Matt Joyce went long for the 12th time (photo Pittsburgh Pirates) |
Jared Hughes came on and gave up a leadoff single followed by a wild pitch. A fly moved the runner to third. A single scored him and another Hamilton knock put Reds on the corners. Curtis Partch took the ball as Hamilton stole another base. Kang booted a grounder as another tally crossed, and yet one more Red plated after a wild pitch. Then came a walk before a DP put the dumpster fire out with the score 7-2. Raisel Iglesias walked the first three Pirates he faced. Jordy was hunting and swung at the next pitch, hitting a roller that resulted in a force at third and did bring in a duck. After a Gregory fly out, Fran singled to load 'em again. J-Hay K'ed after giving the crowd a thrill by hooking a potential grannie foul by a few feet; that ball was the Bucs' last hurrah.
Juan Nicasio took the hill for the eighth. Phillips led off with a knock, went to second on a wayward pick-off, but then took the sting out by getting greedy; he was tossed out easily trying to stretch it to third. The next two outs were garden variety. Michael Lorenzen climbed the bump and walked Starling. Cutch singled, but that was quickly that.
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| Josh went long, too, and just missed another (photo Pittsburgh Pirates) |
With two gone in the ninth, Hamilton singled, why not? But this one had a different ending as Fran tossed him out try to cruise toward another swipe. Tony Cingrani entered and Jordy singled; he loafed up the line enough to draw a throw to first from RF. No diff; he got picked off (quite the no-no in a 7-3 game) although it did take a review to overturn the original safe call. A walk and DP put a merciful end to it.
Roster management this year, wow. Arquie was traded for no glaring reason while AJ Schugel and The Lobster are at Indy with Josh Bell, who is honing his first base skills by playing the outfield. Jeff Locke, Jared Hughes, Curtis Partch and company are all in Pittsburgh...and yet the Bucs are still just one good stretch of wins away from a playoff spot. These are strange times indeed.
- The Buc offense continues to sputter. They drew five walks, but their six hits weren't enough to take advantage. They were 1-for-10 w/RISP.
- Gerrit Cole is 0-5 in seven career starts against Cincinnati.
- Nice day, nice crowd - 32,947 fans were on hand.
- Without weighing for the pitchers or opponents, here's the CS% for Bucco backstops: Elias Diaz (9 innings, CS 1-1, 100%), Erik Kratz (139 inn, 4-9 CS, 44%), Fran (486 inn, 22-63, 35%) and Eric Fryer (102-2/3 inn, 2-15, 13%).
- During his Sunday radio show, Neal Huntington made it official that Chad Kuhl will start Tuesday v SD, and said he has a chance to stick in the rotation from here on out. The team is off tomorrow.
- Tyler Glasnow will be assigned for rehab work soon, so his shoulder tweak is a thing of the past.
- The Shark got his first save for the Nats, striking out a pair in a 1-0 win
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