Bucs Strand An Unlucky 13 Runners In 3-2 Loss To Padres; Meadows 2-for-4 in Debut

A single, 4-6-3 DP and fly carried Ivan Nova through a quiet first. Fraze and Gregory opened with walks off Tyson Ross, but he found the zone against Corey D and served up a 6-4-3 twin killing. J-Bell took some of the sting away with a two-out two-bagger to put the Bucs up 1-0. Ivan spun a 1-2-3 second; ditto for Ross. Austin Meadows got his first swing in and flew out to center. The Padres opened the third with an infield knock. Nova didn't get a strike three call, but in the end it worked out as he instead got another GIDP; karma is a funny thing. Fraze walked again, moved up on a grounder and slid home after Corey D's two-out rap to make it 2-0. A single and stolen base followed by an Eric Hosmer double - he's been killing Pittsburgh pitching - made it 2-1. Nova didn't help himself when he dropped J-Bell's flip while covering first to leave Padres at the corners with an out. He almost got out of it with a DP ball hit to Fraze, but Adam bobbled it and could only get the out at first; tie game thanks to consecutive hands of stone plays.

Ivan pitched better than his results (photo Pittsburgh Pirates)

Meadows got his first MLB hit with two gone, rolling a slider into center and then stealing his first base a pitch later. Jordy was walked intentionally and Ivan bounced out. Nova's having quite a time in the field today. He got a grounder stuck in his webbing, tossed the glove & ball to J-Bell, and *whew* it worked. The next two outs of the fifth were garden-variety. Gregory bounced a one-out ground rule double and was frozen at second. Moment of truth: the third time through the order has been Ivan's Achilles Heel, and it's that time in the sixth. Four pitches earned two outs, then Hosmer dropped an excuse-me bloop gently into left for a double; Franchy Cordero singled him home. He went to second on the throw home but no more damage resulted. Red Beard was bopped and an out later, Meadows singled. Jordy almost was the hero, but with the wind blowing across the field (Dickerson ended up on his butt corralling a ball that the wind pushed around in the top of the frame), his drive to left stayed in the park for a loud second out. Freeser grabbed some lumber and swung through two shoe-top sliders before a foul-tip whiff; not a very pretty at bat.

Kyle Crick put up a pair of zeroes (photo Pittsburgh Pirates)

Kyle Crick is today's seventh-inning arm and spun a clean frame. Kirby Yates came on. He plunked Gregory in the hip, who stole second and went to third on a short blocked pitch. Corey D emulated Freeser with another undisciplined at bat and another runner-stranding K. J-Bell walked - looked like a work-around - and it was a good idea; Red Beard took two strikes and then fanned. With two outs in the eight, Kyle gave up a walk and stolen base. That brought up Hosmer, who was intentionally walked and the inning closed quietly. Craig Stammen claimed the hill. After an out, Austin hit a rope to right center; it hung up in the wind like Jordy's and became another loud out. Jordy beat out a bleeder to bring up Joey O, who did the same; they're not exactly burners, but sometimes hustling is enough. Fraze walked to juice the sacks, and the call went out to Brad Hand, the Friars closer, to match up with Gregory. Lefties don't have a hit against the southpaw this year. El Coffee looked at two strikes that maybe kissed the black, then laid off three wide ones to run the count full. The next pitch was was a little wide too, but Gregory protected, given the first two calls, and grounded out to short. The Bucs have stranded 10 runners in the past five frames and a dozen overall.

Richard Rodriguez worked the ninth and 1-2-3'ed San Diego with two whiffs. Corey D opened with a hustle double (he beat the tag). J-Bell had another of those frustrating at bats, fouling off a fastball down the middle and then chasing an ankle-biter slider for a K. S-Rod hit for Moran and he couldn't lay wood on Hand's slider, either. Eli chopped one to second and Hand had his four-out save.

Gregory continues to heat up (photo Pittsburgh Pirates)

Brutal game to lose. The Bucs stranded 13 and went just 2-of-15 with RISP, as much the result of unfocused at bats as Friar hurling, while giving up a run on consecutive bobbles. Even Mother Nature was in on it, holding up at least three balls that looked lost off the bat. At least Austin Meadows looked like a keeper in his opening scene. Ah well, might as well get it out of the system all at once and bounce back tomorrow.

Notes:

• Austin and Corey D each had two hits; Fraze walked three times. The Pirates had eight hits, six walks and a bopped batter reach tonight. They only fanned six times, but several were at possible game-altering junctures.
• Dickerson got the first hit by a LHH against Hand; he had retired 27 of the 31 he had met (with four walks) prior to the two-bagger.
• Pretty poor Friday night crowd - 18,920 showed up for Fireworks/Star Wars Night/Austin Meadows debut.
• Joe Musgrove went five innings for Indy, giving up six runs on 10 hits and two walks with six K after 96 tosses. Ugh...
• Geez - Ji-hwan Bae, the highly-touted teenage SS prospect recently signed by the Bucs ($1.25M bonus), has returned to South Korea to face questioning regarding domestic abuse charges leveled by his old girlfriend.