Fraze Ends Pirates Plunge, Leads Bucs to 6-4 Walkoff Win

Well, same ol' Bucs at the start. After a fairly quiet first served up by Steven Brault, Starling Marte doubled off Aaron Wilkerson. Marte tried to steal third with two outs; of course he didn't make it. Jesus Aguilar opened the second with a 440' blast into the bullpen, then Domingo Santana drilled another with two outs in the third. *sigh* The Bucs came back with an Eli two-bagger and Jordy walk. Steven's bunt cut down the lead man, but Fraze picked him up with a triple that that rocketed off of the Clemente Wall. Starling singled him home, and holy crooked number, a Pirates lead! Wilkerson got the hook in favor of Jacob Barnes and he ended the partay as Marte was picked off and nailed in the ensuing rundown before Cutch lined out. The fourth went by without any damage; the Bucs, well, they Bucco'ed in the fifth - the bases were loaded thanks to a single, walk and error with one out. Starling's grounder became a force at home and Cutch went down 4-3 *sigh* again.

Steven did a decent job tonight (photo Pittsburgh Pirates)

Anyway, Steven's five frames were up and in came Tyler Glasnow, who gave up a walk, whiff and GIDP. Jared Hughes and Wei Chung Wang cruised through their half. And the the Bucs Bucco'ed again. Tyler's sequence went walk, caught stealing, walk, walk, and hook. AJ Schugel went double, intentional walk, bases-loaded walk before getting the last two outs and it was 4-3 in favor of the Pale Ales. Josh Hader served a zippo in the seventh while Dan Runzler gave up a double and got an out, then Clint called on Huddy who whiffed the next pair. Anthony Swarzak left in the eighth with Cutch on second and two outs as Corey Knebel came out sniffin' for a four-out save. He got Freeser to roll a swinging bunt, but misfired on the throw to first (even the Brewers can Bucco, it seems) to tie the game.

Felipe Rivero (remember him?) got the ball. He was a little rusty - it was his third appearance in 16 days - but got away with a walk and a knock. Knebel walked Eli, got a couple of outs and then Fraze drilled one over the Clemente Wall and praise the Lord & pass the ammunition, the Pirates had a W. We'd still like to see if it's possible to sneak a game or two at third for Joey O and get Edgar Santana a little more work; maybe Chris Bostick too. As for Tyler, well, that's a trough one; it might help his focus to send him to the Himalayas for a while and have him "ooommm" with the lamas.

Fraze was the Buc stopper tonight (photo Pittsburgh Pirates)

Notes:

• Starling and Fraze had a pair of hits (Adam had four RBI & two runs scored) while Eli and Jordy each had a knock and a walk. Frazier's homer was his first walkoff long ball and second WO hit of the campaign.
• Fraze's triple broke a 21+ IP scoreless streak for the Pirates. Starling's ensuing single broke a streak of 65+ consecutive innings of playing w/o the lead.
• Steven Brault's line: five innings, two runs, three hits, one walk, three K on 65 pitches. A nice outing if he can make those hits a little shorter.
• 15,754 was the announced attendance tonight.
• Jose Osuna and Elias Diaz want to play winter ball in Venezuela if the political situation is right. Both are looking for more at-bats and Joey O wants to get some game action at the hot corner, per @BiertempfelTrib.