Phil's Spank Buccos 7-0

Jake Arrieta had an easy first, although Starling drew another walk, and Jamo worked a 1-2-3 frame. The Pirates were quiet again in the second with just a Cervy infield single; the Phils Rhys Hoskins homered to lead off, ending the shutout streak at 16+ innings for Taillon. Then it got ugly - a walk, HBP and infield hit (ie, misplayed bunt) loaded 'em with no outs. He almost danced out of it. A pair of K's later, it came down to a 3-2 pitch to Cesar Hernandez; the runners were all moving and a single, believe it or not, cleared the bases thanks to some pretty nonchalant retrieval & return by Starling and plus wheels on first. A walk and another single made it 5-0; Jamo was over the 50 pitch mark and in came Tyler Glasnow to douse the flames. Jamo struggled last outing and it carried over into today. Jake struck out the side in the third; Tyler also went 1-2-3. Arrieta only whiffed two in the fourth; ditto for Ty.

Tyler's taking it a baby step at a time (photo Pittsburgh Pirates)

The Bucs got a walk in the fifth. The Phils opened with a single, wild pitch, single and walk. After two K, another 3-2 knock chased home a second run when Corey D decided to hold on to the ball with a play available at the plate. The Pirates went down without a peep in the sixth; two Quakers walked after an opening K. Richard Rodriguez got the ball from Glasnow and immediately cleaned it up with a DP ball served on the first pitch. Jake mowed down the Pirates again in the seventh; Rich Rod did OK too, giving up a two-out infield knock (he was beaten to the bag on a grounder to J-Bell) while striking out the side. Yaksel Rios took over in the eighth; Max Moroff got the Bucs second hit but had no help. Rodriguez gave up another hit and fanned the side again. Victor Arano came on to close the gate and did it without a problem.

The Bucs are in their first rough patch of the season, being shutdown in three of the last four games. Hopefully Jamo can get back on track and ditto for Gregory, who hit the ball hard in his last couple at bats, so maybe he's getting back into a comfort zone. Seems like the offense feeds on itself for good or bad; we'll see if that's just a blip or a trend as the year goes on. As for the defense, the Phils' speed seem to catch the Pirates unaware; they ho-hummed a couple or three plays in the field and paid the price. We'll chalk that up to a learning experience against a club they don't see often.

Gregory's trying to get the feelin' back (photo Pittsburgh Pirates)

Notes:

•  The Pirates reached base four times; Cervy made it twice with a walk and a knock.
• The Bucs struck out 16 Phils in eight innings - seven by Glasnow, six by Rich Rod and three by Jamo.
• This was the shortest start of Taillon's career; his previous low-water mark was three complete innings against the Brewers in 2016.
• Tyler Glasnow went 3-2/3 IP and was the first Pirates reliever to record seven Ks in a game since Stolmy Pimentel in 2014.
• The Phils sported their old school powder blue unis today; looks like the throwback to the Mike Schmidt & Lefty Carlton days connected.