Bucs Grind Out 6-5 Win Against Game Giants

Yay, the tarp came up, tho the game time was pushed back to 8:35. Chad Kuhl whiffed the first two G-Men (sorry Cutch) before Buster Posey doubled, costing three extra tosses. Jeff Samardzija walked Gregory with an out and Starling singled him to third, then stole second on the next pitch. J-Bell's sac fly made it 1-0, with Marte moving to third on the throw. He plated on Corey D's two-strike knock. The Giants answered when Evan Longeria took the first pitch of the second frame long and an out later, Alen Hanson followed with another dinger to tie. The Shark breezed through the bottom of the order. Cutch started the third with a two-bagger, then Posey walked after being in a 0-2 hole. An out later, he had Longoria 0-2 also but gave up a bases-loading knock. Gotta finish, Chad. A sac fly netted a run and a walk reloaded the sacks. Austin Jackson's lack of discipline applied a tourniquet - he swung at ball three (on a 2-0 pitch) and grounded out. Pittsburgh responded with a Gregory tater to tie it back up. The Giants were limited to a walk in the fourth. Cervy was plunked in the paw with an out but erased on a strike 'em out, throw 'em out DP when Red Beard swung through high heat. Chad had a quick eight-pitch fifth. Jordy walked to begin things and was bunted up, but died at second.

Chad labored but kept the Bucs above water (photo Pittsburgh Pirates)

In the sixth, Jackson took a one-out free pass this time after being behind 0-2. The Bucs repaid the Bay Boys when The Shark whiffed trying to bunt and Jackson was tossed out at second. J-Bell singled with one gone and trotted home ahead of Cervy, who lined a 1-2, two-out sinker into the RF stands. Red Beard singled and Sam Dyson took the ball to shut it down. Michael Feliz came on in the seventh; Chet left us with another spell of competence, spell of BP, performance, though he did keep it together for six frames. After a K, Andrew smoked another two-bagger. Posey hit a loud fly to Starling that drew some sweat, but it just delayed the damage as Brandon Belt sliced a 3-2 fastball over Jordy into center to make it 5-4. S-Rod walked with an out and stole second, his first swipe of the year, but Gregory and Starling couldn't bring him around. George Kontos got the eighth inning call. With an out, he fell behind Hanson 3-0 and gave up a knock; Jackson's double tied it and Felipe Vazquez was waved in. He got a K, then lost a long battle to Gorkys Hernandez, losing him to bring up Cutch. Felipe ran the count full before getting him to roll over on a change and bounce out to short, though it took 21 pitches to get two outs.

Tony Watson toed the slab and was welcomed with a first-pitch double by J-Bell. A grounder moved him to third and Cervy was issued an intentional pass as the wheels turned. Freeser hit a roller to third; it held a dancing Bell at the hot corner but did earn David an infield knock. Jordy got a painful RBI when his ol' teammate bopped him above the knee to put the Bucs up 6-5. Mad Max whiffed on three pitches and S-Rod went down looking; an insurance run would have nice, but... Felipe stayed in. He got Posey to fly out on a full count after coming back from a 3-0 hole; the next out had drama, too, as J-Bell made great stop of Belt's grounder and flip to a hustling Felipe for the tag. The closer came on a quiet 5-3; RTJR.

J-Bell is starting to wake up at the dish (photo Pittsburgh Pirates)

The wins keep coming, but we have to wonder how long Clint is going to stick with George Kontos; he had to burn Felipe tonight to cover him, and while Richard Rodriguez/Edwin Santana may be unproven, they've earned a shot at some higher leverage work. Hurdle hates to disrupt his rote, but Kontos has cooled off; he hasn't tossed a clean frame in six outings this month and been scored on in three of the last four outings. The Pirates are 18-0 when leading after seven innings, so it may take more to nudge Clint off his routine, so we'll see. At any rate, it's a nice win by the Buccos; they're starting off the home stand just the way the doctor ordered.

Notes:

• The Pirates had eight hits; J-Bell owned two of them.
• Amore hit his sixth long ball. He had just five last year, with his personal best being seven dingers smacked in 2015. 
• The Bucs have won five in row and are guaranteed a series win against SF with tonight's victory.
• This was the first time in eight starts that Jeff Samardzija has gotten to the sixth inning.
• Tonight's attendance was 27,502, OK for a rainy night.
• Noah Hiles of 93.7 The Fan talks to a very grounded Richard Rodriguez.
• Joe Musgrove had a pretty good rehab outing at Indy - he went 5-2/3 IP with no runs, hits or walks (there was one runner via error) and six K while tossing 79 pitches (60 strikes!) Guessin' he's pretty close to returning to action.