J-Bell & Red Beard Lead the Way to 7-3 Win Over Milwaukee

Easy first for Nick Kingham; not so much for Junior Guerra. Corey D doubled and went to third on Starling's knock. Marte stole second before Gregory lifted a sac fly and Amore walked. Colin Moran singled home a second run and J-Bell doubled home another. Red Beard was cut down at home; Joey Cora apparently hasn't quite figured out how slow he is yet. It was 1-2-3 for the Brew Crew in the second; Pittsburgh stranded Corey D, who doubled with two outs. The Brewers used a single, walk, single to get a run back in the third; a well-timed 6-4-3 DP ended the uprising. With two away for the Bucs, Red Beard singled and so did J-Bell; his ball skipped past Lorenzo Cain, allowing Moran to score and sending Bell to third. A Jordy double chased him home before Nick whiffed. Nada for the Brewers in the fourth; the Bucs got a two-out homer from Gregory. There was no Milwaukee noise in the fifth. Pittsburgh got a grounder, J-Bell single, J-Hay DP off Brandon Woodruff. Woodruff then opened the sixth with a homer before The King snapped to attention and cruised through the top of the order.

Josh rang the bell tonight (photo Pittsburgh Pirates)

The Bucs went down without a peep. Travis Shaw took a 3-2 fastball, located down but mid-plate, long with an out in the seventh, just dropping beyond the fence. That was followed by a single on an 0-2 pitch; Kingham's velo has dropped a couple of ticks and Edgar Santana got the ball, finishing off the frame. Nick gave up five hits, a walk, and whiffed nine tonight. The Pirates went quietly again. The Brew Crew got back-to-back, one-out ground ball knocks in the eighth. After a line out, Kyle Crick got the call and retired Jesus Aguilar on a fly. Jacob Barnes was welcomed by a Red Beard rap, and he came home on a J-Bell three-bagger. Three outs later, the Pirates stranded him there. With an out in the ninth, the Brewers got a swinging bunt single followed by another knock. Crick got a K as Milwaukee pulled off a double steal. The Bucs challenged the safe call at third to no avail; Red Beard lifted the tag on an overslide. No prob; it just added four pitches to Kyle's total before a grounder (challenged for no particular reason by the Brewers) closed the book. RTJR!

Kyle nailed it down (photo Pittsburgh Pirates)

Notes:

• J-Bell went 4-for-4 with a triple, double, two RBI and a run scored. Red Beard went 3-for-4 with two runs tallied and one chased home while Corey D added two raps.
• Nick's nine whiffs tied his career high, set during his April 29th debut against St. Louis.
• Junior's Jinx: The six runs allowed by Guerra tonight were the most against him this season. His previous high was five, also scored by Pittsburgh, on May 4th.
• There were 21,431 at PNC Park tonight.