Locke Rocked; Bucs Overwhelmed 12-6

Chad Kuhl started off by serving up a Matt Carpenter double, then a walk. After two outs, another walked jammed the sacks but the rook was cool and got Randal Grichuk on a bouncer, tho it did take Chad 28 tosses to close the deal. J-Hay opened with a knock off Adam Wainwright, then JJ walked. Cutch rolled over on a curve and rolled into an around the horn DP. Waino hung a hook to Gregory and he roped it on a line to Matt Adams at first, an inning cloned from the ones against Milwaukee.

The second started with Kuhl's third free pass, and this one hurt when Wainwright's one-out double off the CF fence chased the run home. Carpenter was nicked in the foot, not called until after the Cards challenged (and it looked iffy on replay; maybe NY had a different angle). Somewhere, Tony LaRussa is smirking. An out later, Stephen Piscotty smoked a double to plate both runners, and an infield knock put Redbirds on the corners. Fran called for the trainer to check Chad out; he visited and the pitcher stayed on the hill, getting a soft 3-2 comebacker on his 58th pitch, getting the last out thx to a nice grab at first by JJ.  Starling and Freeser opened with raps, and Fran made it three in a row to tally Marte. Jordy lined out to right, and Josh Bell stepped in for Kuhl and doubled the opposite way for another run. Either the contact play or a TOOTBLAN bit the Bucs; Fran was cut down on Jay-Hay's grounder and JJ fanned. It's a game now, but the Pirates have missed some early opps.

Cutch bombed a two-run shot today (photo Dave Arrigo/Pirates)

Jeff Locke took the hill in the third and Bell stayed in at first. The first Card walked and was bunted up by the seven hitter. Odd strategy, but it paid off when Kolten Wong singled the run home. A wild pitch moved Wong up with two gone, but it didn't hurt. The Pirates have walked five, bopped one and hurled a WP while serving up 80 pitches; three of those gifts have scored. The Pirates went down without a peep, with Wong making a great grab on Marte's no-man's land lob. Jedd Gyorko led off the fourth with a dinger off a fat change. The next guy reached on a Freeser misfire (Bell took the wide throw and dove to the bag; the Bucs challenged the safe call and lost), and it's getting ugly. A single and bad Bell toss on a DP ball loaded 'em up, and another run scored when the Bucs couldn't turn a DP again. Another walk, another bases loaded situation, another Waino knock.The Pirates were 1-2-3'ed.

Fraze unloaded today, too (photo Dave Arrigo/Pirates)

A bean and a blast added two more in the fifth. A J-Hay knock and 427' Cutch bop made it 10-4, good buddies. Jared Hughes came in for the sixth and put up a zero, holding the Cards to a double. Jonathan Broxton toed the rubber and gave up a harmless knock with two gone. St. Louis went down in order (about time) in the seventh, while Pittsburgh got a knock from Fraze. Antonio Bastardo answered the phone for the eighth. Three hits and a sac fly later, the Cards tacked two more on the scoreboard. Miguel Socolovich climbed the bump and held the Bucs to an infield knock. Tony Watson came in to work up a ninth-inning sweat (he hasn't pitched in a week) and went single, DP, whiff. Jordy trip-trip-tripled, scored on a sac fly and then Fraze's dinger closed it out at 12-6.

Walks. Errors. Two or three unturned DP balls. Redbird frozen ropes. Wasted at bats. Heck, the pitchers were late to cover first twice. And we can't quite figure out Clint's bromance w/Jeff Locke. Can they do a quick turnaround? Was it over when the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor? The next two days should tell the tale one way or another.

• The Bucs did bang out 12 hits, two each by J-Hay, Starling and Fraze.
• Francisco Cervelli left the game with "left thumb discomfort."
• The Pirates hadn't lost seven straight games since 2014.
• The Redbirds have homered in 24 consecutive games, adding to their club record. 25 games is the NL mark.
• 26,297 fans spun the turnstiles today.
• The injury news on Elias Diaz: he's being treated for cellulitis (a skin infection) on his left leg and will be re-evaluated in three days. It can become serious if the infection gets into the bloodstream.
• It took the AA Altoona Curve extra innings, but they persevered and qualified for the Eastern League playoffs. Indy finished third and out of the money with a 70-74 slate, so it's time for a couple of their guys to come up.