Bucs Start Fast & Hang On For 6-4 Streak-Snapper

Well, it started out shaky; Chad plunked a batter and gave up a walk, but a DP in the middle got him through. The Bucs went 1-2-3 to Michael Wacha. In the second, a double, passed ball and grounder into right made it 1-0 Redbirds before the rain delay; it had been threatening all afternoon. With a worn-to-the-nub bullpen today, Kuhl took the bump again after a two-hour (1:56, to be exact) stoppage. He finished the interrupted frame and the Bucs took the lead when Fraze drilled a two-run shot into center; Marte added another two-run jack and the Bucs put up a five-spot despite an Eli DP. Eli came up short again, leaving the bases loaded in the third; Chad stood tall by stranding the leadoff hitter at third with no outs in the fifth. Po' Eli keeps coming up with runners dancin' (and in most cases, two outs) and left two more aboard in the Bucco half.

Chad started slow, but came back strong after a little nap (photo Pittsburgh Pirates)

Dovydas Neverauskas got the call in the sixth - great job, Chad - and kept the zeroes coming; Jose Osuna took Josh Lucas long (his first pinch-hit homer) to make it 6-1. George Kontos added another Card zippo to the board. Juan Nicasio made it interesting when he gave up a two-run homer in the eighth to Paul DeJong; Felipe Rivero more so when he opened the ninth by serving up a Jose Martinez dinger. But two soft grounders and a whiff put it to bed and the streak has ended at six. You'd like to see the bullpen nail it down with a little more authority; then again, tho Chad did yeoman's work today, you'd like to see a starter turn in a seven-inning game, too. But why quibble? It's been a while since the Jolly Roger has been raised and that's the ultimate goal.

Notes:

• Starling and Fraze each had three hits including a homer, two RBI and a run scored (for Marte, it's now five straight multi-hit games) while S-Rod and JJ had two knocks (Jaso also walked).
• Pretty good line for Chad, especially considering the rain break: five IP, one run, three hits, one walk, one plunk, one wild pitch and six K on 92 pitches. His control is still a little iffy, but he's been money in the second half; we're still a little bewildered about talk that claims he's better suited for the pen.
• In the last six games, Pirates pitchers have given up 17 homers, nine by the starters and eight by the bullpen.
• There were 34,660 tickets sold for today's game.