The Pitching Is Willing But the Bats Are Weak: Bucs Drop 2-1 Decision to Arizona In 13 Innings

Goldy singled off Ivan in the first; Austin Meadows did the same against Pat Corbin, reaching third on a steal and passed ball before Starling and Freeser fanned. The second went quietly both ways.The D-Backs got a knock in the third; the Pirates all fanned. The fourth was quiet for Arizona; the Buc went quietly,too, with a Freeser fly breaking a streak of five straight Corbin whiffs. Nick Ahmed led off the fifth with a double and was moved to third, but Ivan kept him there. Corbin gave up a two-out knock to Jordy. Super Nova struck out the side in the sixth; AM had a two-out rap for the Pittsburgh noise. The seventh went by uneventfully. It was 1-2-3 in the eighth for the Snakes, who had a bunt single ruling overturned to start the frame. Yoshihisa Hirano took the ball. He gave up a one-out walk to Gregory, the game's first, but Red Beard rolled into a DP to end any scoring thoughts.

Ivan tossed a third straight strong game (photo Pittsburgh Pirates)

Felipe Vazquez got into ninth inning problems via his own error and a pop hit misplayed by Jordy who kicked the ball chasing after it, but got out of the second-and-third jam. Archie Bradley got the call and kept the zeroes coming despite a couple of hard outs. It was Kyle Crick's turn in the 10th and he gave up a double with one away and a steal of third but kept the plate clean. Fernando Salas toed the slab. Eli walked with an out; the next pair of Pirates fanned. Edgar Santana got the 11th inning invite and gave up an opening knock to Jon Jay. A one-out knock put Snakes on the corners; the outfield was deep, protecting against extra bases and was bit by a grounder. They caught the lead runner on a tapper even with Santana bobbling the ball; Jay was off on the contact play. 'Zona challenged with a blocking the plate beef but lost. But Bucco fielding made it moot; Ketel Marte hit a dribbler that Eli prob should have eaten; instead he threw into right for a two-base error to score the game's first run.

Brad Boxberger entered looking to close it out but got off to a bad start, walking Gregory on four pitches. He then lost pinch hitter J-Bell on a 3-2 heater that missed. J-Hay bunted them up; we'll see if that strategy works out or not. AM was walked intentionally to set up Starling. He went after the first pitch, sheesh, and hit a broken-bat bouncer to third; the throw was off the mark (it was ruled an error) and it's a tie game. Freeser couldn't cash in, looking pretty sad while striking out, and an Eli bouncer took it to another frame. Tyler Glasnow was waved in - the Pirates used Steven Brault, Ric Rod and Michael Feliz for multiple innings last night - as J-Hay moved to third and Fraze to second; looks like Ty's game. He worked a clean 12th frame, helped by a nice grab by AM in left. Lefty Andrew Chafin climbed the hill and gave up a two-out bloop to Gregory, then Fraze worked an eight-pitch walk. Josh popped out, so onward we march.

AM reached three times tonight (photo Pittsburgh Pirates)

Jay opened the 13th with a walk, and a two-out wild pitch moved him up 90'. He intentionally walked David Peralta after the wayward toss. Ketel Marte knocked a fat 2-2 curve into center to give the Snakes the lead, although he was tossed out at second by the Pittsburgh Marte. TJ McFarlane took the hill and cruised through the Bucs to seal the deal.

Geez, was Ivan on fire - three hits and eight K on 90 pitches. In fact, Nova and Corbin were the first combo of starters in MLB history to go seven or more innings of scoreless ball with eight or more whiffs (Corbin fanned 12), no walks, and three or fewer hits each. But that kind of performance is almost par for the course against Pittsburgh this week. The Pirates have faced some decent pitching, but they have also thrown away their share at bats; to go 13 innings and get fours hits, well... They've scored seven runs in the past four games. Clint may really want to consider starting his eight best man more than a couple of times in a row. It'd be nice to have the Zambelli fireworks celebrate a win.

Gregory also got aboard three times (photo Pittsburgh Pirates)

Notes:

• Austin Meadows had two hits and a walk; Gregory had two walks and a knock. The Bucs reached base 10 times (four hits, six walks) and they accounted for six of the touchings.
• The attendance tonight was 24,843.
• The Antwon Rose shooting protesters gathered at the home plate gate of PNC Park. The stadium personnel shut the entrance and advised the fans to use alternate exits to leave the yard. The protest continued past the game's finale and fireworks promo.
• Clint said pre-game that Cervy is "still trying to fight through some things" and was placed on the seven-day concussion DL; Jacob Stallings got the call up.
• The Pirates signed their second-and-third-round draft picks, prepster RHP Braxton Ashcraft and Vandy SS Connor Kaiser. Per Jim Callis, Ashcraft inked a deal worth $1,825,000 (pick value: $1,382,400) and Kaiser signed for $625,000 (pick value: $673,200). Ashcraft was sent to the rookie-league GCL Pirates and Kaiser went to the short-season West Virginia Black Bears.