Bucs Rally For Naught, Rays Prevail 4-2 In 10 Innings

For openers, Trevor Williams gave up a two-out rap and Alex Cobb tossed a clean inning. In the second, the Rays reached on a catcher's interference call against Stew with an out; a 6-4-3 DP took care of that while the Bucs again went in order. The third was six up, six down. Two of the first three Rays singled (both raps were seeing eye bouncers) in the fourth to put runners in the corners and a soft grounder drew first blood. Pittsburgh got a J-Hay walk but still no knocks. Trevor struck out the side in the fifth while the Pirates continued to make Cobb look like Cy Young. The Rays got a one-out knock in the sixth, again quickly erased on an around-the-horn DP while the Bucs continued their futility. Williams worked another quiet frame in the seventh, capped by an inning-ending gem web grab by Cutch. The Pirates got something going when J-Hay and Andrew led off with raps; it ended quickly with a pair of grounders to third, the first resulting in a DP.

Trevor looked good tonight, whiffing seven (photo Pittsburgh Pirates)

Trevor gave up a leadoff fan-interference double in the eighth followed by a bad-hop knock that glanced off Freeser's mitt to make it 2-0. Juan Nicasio got the call and closed it down with the last out a CS on a strong Stew toss. Cobb returned to his 1-2-3 ways. Huddy worked the ninth without a hitch. JJ opened the Bucs' last lap by getting bopped by Alex Colome (no, we have no idea why Cobb was pulled; he was at 98 pitches and has gone 115 a couple of times this year). CF Peter Bourjos then ran down Fraze's shot, a big grab that was followed by a J-Hay double. Cutch's two-bagger tied it. J-Bell was walked intentionally, and Freeser's fly to right moved Andrew 90' from the win. El Coffee was walked intentionally to set up a righty-v-righty with Jordy, who flew out deep to left to set up some bonus baseball.

Felipe Rivero came on and the wheels fell off; a leadoff single scored all the way from first on a brutal Freeser boot (and it was literally a boot; the ball was kicked into short left). A walk followed by a wild pitch followed by a sac fly made it 4-2 before the frame ended. Tommy Hunter climbed the slope and made quick work of the Pirates, dispatching them in nine tosses including a K.

J-Hay all day... (photo Pittsburgh Pirates)

Another hard loss by the Bucs with the game swinging on two late-innings plays in the field - Bourjos' snagging Fraze's gapper in the ninth and Freeser booting a possible DP (or at least a force) grounder in the 10th. Even with the missing players and steady stream of guys on the DL, the inability to put games away, whether by bullpen meltdown, stranded runners, or the occasional bad leather day is the reason the Bucs can't dent .500.

Notes:

• The Bucs only managed fours hits, two each by Cutch and J-Hay.
• Cervy was working out with the boys tho still on the DL; no word on the results of his concussion/virus testing.
• Today's gate was 20,424 and some assorted but uncounted pups.
• Per Jim Callis of MLB.com, 6th-rounder Cody Bolton signed with the Pirates for $300K (slot value was $255,900). He's a California prep RHP with a low-90s heater and an in-progress slider who's "projectable."
• Jason Grilli was DFA'ed by Toronto. He was 2-4-1, 6.97 for the Jays, giving up nine HRs in 20-1/3 IP with four walks/10 K per game.
• 40-year-old Joe Beimel retired; the 13-year vet from Duquesne U was drafted by the Bucs and made his debut for Pittsburgh in 2001. He was pitching indie ball this season.
• The Milwaukee Brewers will induct Corey Hart into the team's Wall of Honor on Friday. Corey played his last 35 games as a Pirate after his knee was shot. He spent his first nine MLB campaigns as a Brewer, hitting .276 w/154 dingers.