Bucs Go Down 7-1 To Reds As Glasnow Went Wild & the Bats Didn't

Well, of course, Billy Hamilton opened the game with a single off Tyler Glasnow and stole second. A foul pop out got him to third. Joey Votto walked after being in a 1-2 hole followed by another free pass. And another to make it 1-0. And hey - another walk; all four have come on 3-2 pitches, and Ty might have been a bit squeezed on this one, but it's tough to get calls when you're all over the place. Then Fran banged up his hand blocking a pitch in the dirt, but at least a second out was recorded when Scooter Gennett hit into a fielder's choice to make it 3-0. Another bouncer and the 43-pitch frame was done. Jordy opened with a walk and Starling singled off Brandon Finnegan but nothing came of it.

Tyler & the strike zone weren't on speaking terms tonight (photo Dave Arrigo/Pirates)

After Finnegan lined out to start the second, back-to-back singles put Glasnow in another pickle. Votto whiffed during a double steal and Adam Duvall's first-pitch knock chased the pair home. Duvall swiped second and went to third on Fran's misguided missile, followed by yet another full-count walk. Wade LeBlanc, who's been loosening up since about 7:15, came in and gave up another stolen base before calming the waters. The Pirates loaded the bases with no outs in their half; LeBlanc and Jordy whiffed while Starling lost out to Jose Perazo, who threw him out from the deep SS hole to end the frame. Opportunity only knocks so often...

After the Reds were held off the board in the third, the Pirates again loaded the bases with no outs. Fran's walk brought home the first run and Michael Lorenzen took the ball for the Reds. And that was it; the Pirates are 0-for-9 (with a walk) with RISP - in three innings! Wade spun another zippo in the fourth; Lorenzen matched him. Eugenio Suarez hit a solo bomb in the fifth, Cory Reed replaced Lorenzen in the sixth, and that was all the activity from either team with nine outs remaining for each club.

Antonio Bastardo - three outings, three dingers (photo Dave Arrigo/Pirates)

The seventh went quietly and Antonio Bastardo gave LeBlanc a well-deserved blow in the eighth. Gennett took AB long (three outings for Antonio so far with a homer surrendered in each one) and Reed struck out the side in the Bucco half. The Pirates have been pretty impatient (and impotent) at the dish ever since Finnegan was given the hook way back when and now have a streak of 18 up, 18 down going on. Cincy left the bases loaded in the ninth, and the Bucs didn't. Wandy Peralta continued the 1-2-3 beat as the Pirates fell hard to the Redlegs 7-1.

Well, bad day at the office. Young Mr. Glasgow needs some work for sure; the question is his control that bad or is he suffering from Jeff Locke-itis and trying to pinpoint everything? At any rate, looks like Uncle Ray has some serious workshop time ahead of him. As for the attack, we've already mentioned how frustrating the one-base-at-a-time OBP approach can be, and today the team strung together runners in big bunches without denting the scoreboard. In their defense Wade LeBlanc batted twice in big spots; nothing to be done about that without completely wasting an already overworked bullpen. It's old school and sneered at by the modern stat gang, but RBIs are a number worth noting; the last Buc to have 100 was Pedro Alvarez in 2013. So chalk the loss up to an evening the pitching and hitting both took off. Now the Bucs need to take the next pair to take the series against a team that's played them tough in the past few seasons despite their record.

The Bucs last 100-RBI man -  2012 Topps Gold

Notes:

• Wade LeBlanc pitched 5-1/3 innings of relief, the longest bullpen outing for a Pirate in a regulation game (nine innings) since Ron Villone went that long on 5/13/2002 in an 11-0 thumping by Arizona, per Joe Block.
• Per Elias, Tyler Glasnow (five outs, five BB) & Brandon Finnegan (six outs, five BB) are the first opposing starters since 1893 to walk 5+ in two IP or under.
• Because of the rain-out date against Boston, the Pirates aren't off again until April 20th, and that limited Clint's hand in taking out LeBlanc for a pinch-hitter and burning his bullpen.
• Billy Hamilton continues to be an All-Star against the Bucs; he had three hits, two stolen bases and two runs scored tonight. 
• 28,264 showed up for tonight's game; hope they enjoyed the buck hot dogs.
• Josh Lindblom tossed five scoreless innings for Indy, allowing three hits and striking out seven on 80 pitches. Didn't help; Indy lost 1-0 in 11 innings.