Pirate Snap Streak With 4-3 Win At Arizona

Fraze opened with a knock *welcome back* off Taijuan Walker; he was bunted to second and then thrown out at third on a Cutch comebacker. Trevor gave up a pair of singles and a walk, but no runs. He's working from behind; a couple of early strikes would be a boost for him as he's already at 27 tosses. J-Bell is back in the groove; he doubled with an out in the second and died there. Nick Ahmed led off with a 360' liner that landed in the bullpen followed by a double that was stranded at third. The Pirates hit three worm burners in the third; two Snake grounders and a whiff ended their frame quietly. Gregory legged out a dribbler to open the fourth; a knock and a walk juiced the sacks. Cervy bounced into a DP; at least the Bucs got on the board. A intentional walk backfired when Trevor's roller to second was booted to make it 2-1. Williams cruised through the frame; he's cut down nine in a row.

Trevor caught his breath and then tossed a nice game (photo Pittsburgh Pirates)

J-Hay opened the fifth with a first-pitch two-bagger and went to third on an outfield bobble. Cutch doubled into the LF corner to chase him home but was iced at third thanks to Ahmed's sweet play on J-Bell to end the inning. Two grounders and a loud fly tucked away Arizona. Amore opened the sixth with a knock. A bouncer moved him up and JJ, pinch-hitting for Trevor, singled him home, then swiped second. A wild pitch advanced him a notch, but J-Hay couldn't cash jaso in. Juan Nicasio toed the rubber after Trevor gave up a run on four hits and a walk with four K on 77 pitches. The Snakes went down 1-2-3, on a liner, walk, liner DP. Tom Wilhelmsen took the ball in the seventh and tossed a clean frame.

In a bit of a surprise, Jose Osuna took over at first for J-Bell; not sure about that move as Bell is the only Pirate 1B with a positive (albeit 1.0) DRS. The Snakes opened with a knock and then got a one-out infield rap on a play where Juan fail to cover first to put Snakes on the corners. In came Felipe Rivero, with Gift going to second and J-Hay to third. Felipe was hit triple digits to go with an 88-89 MPH change and got a pair of soft foul-outs to turn on the red light. Andrew Chafin put up a zippo in the eighth. Rivero tried to crank a 100 MPH horsehide past Paul Goldschmidt and lost as Goldy knocked it into the RF seats to make it 4-2. Rivero then K'ed the next pair to carry it into the ninth. Randall Delgado was nicked for a knock and Tony Watson took the ball. gift made a nice play to get the first out, but there was no defending Ahmed's second homer. An out later, he walked Daniel Descalso who was batting .161. AJ Pollack popped up a 3-2 delivery, and the fat lady finally entered the stage.

Tony loves him some drama (image Positively Pittsburgh)

Trevor got off to another shaky start, but he righted the ship this time out. The losing streak ended at six thanks to the weekend/four run combo and no thanks to the 2-for-14 RISP performance. Ivan Nova hits the hill tomorrow; it would be nice to end this trip with a series split.

Notes:

• J-Hay had two hits and J-Bell had a knock (a long one) and a walk. Jordy was on three times via free passes, two intentional.
• Felipe Rivero had gone 15 IP w/o giving up a run before Goldschmidt's dinger. It was the second run he's surrendered in 20 outings this season.

Felipe has been all that this year (photo Pittsburgh Pirates)

• John Jaso stole his first base since August 8th, 2015.
• After giving up a homer and double in the second, Trevor Williams put together a string of 12 straight outs.  
• Chris Iannetta took several stitches in his upper lip to go with a broken nose and fractured teeth. He's still being evaluated, presumably for a concussion. Chris and Johnny Barbato, who beaned him, have exchanged texts already to mend fences. Judging by tonight, both clubs have moved on.