Jay Day: Jamo, Jordy & the Joshes Lead Bucs to 6-3 Win Over the Brew Crew

Jameson Taillon looks sharp; he opened with two whiffs in a clean frame. Wade Miley got three grounders against the Bucs. The Brew Crew got a two-out knock in the second on a ball deflected by Jamo, followed by a real rap. JT came back from a 3-0 count to fan Erik Kratz looking, so no damage. Freeser rolled one up the middle. Jordan Luplow looked bad, watching a strike and swinging through two change ups off the plate. An out later, J-Hay walked (this is not a drill) and Jordy singled a run home, going to second on a throw that had Harrison dead at third but was serendipitously dropped. Jameson went down on three pitches, but with a 1-0 lead. Jamo struck out the side in the third while Miley had no problems with the top of the order. The Brew Crew evened it up when Jesus Aguilar clobbered his 24th homer in the fourth. J-Bell walked with two away, as did J-Hay. Jordy came through again, lining a two-strike single into left that ticked off the SS's leather to plate Bell before JT K'ed again.

Jamo was strong again tonight (photo Pittsburgh Pirates)

A walk (Jamo was squeezed, but today's strike zone has been kinda fluid) and knock put Brewers on the corners in the fifth. Miley fanned and so did Eric Thames, with a stolen base by Kratz setting up the Brewers. No diff; Lorenzo Cain went down on strikes too. Corey D walked and Starling singled. An out later, another free pass juiced the sacks. J-Low hit the horsehide on the nose but it was an at 'em ball to the second baseman, who doubled up Starling to kill the inning. Christian Yelich walked on a borderline call to start the sixth. JT got away with a hung curve to Aguilar; he lasered it to Marte. A couple of grounders got him back in the dugout. Adrian Houser took the hill and gave up a walk and single; a wild pitch moved the Joshes up and Jordy knocked them both home. Jamo was done; he gave up a run on four hits, two walks and 10 K after 96 tosses. Pinch hitter Red Beard singled, but was erased on a Corey D 6-4-3 DP. The Bucs weren't done; Starling's knock plated Jordy before the fun ended.

Ric Rod got the seventh and a leadoff walk created no ado. Jonathan Villar got the ball. His opening walk was erased on a J-Low 6-4-3 DP; tough day for the kid. He gave up another walk (J-Bell's third) and J-Hay doubled him home before the Brewers finally solved Jordy. Tyler Glasnow spun the eighth and got into a two-out jam after a walk & rap, but whiffed his way out of it. Alec Asher claimed the hill and put up a zero, overcoming an error. Michael Feliz got last call and ran into some hard luck with an out thx to an infield single by Kratz and a error by Jordy on a possible DP ball. That was followed by a ground ball single and walk. With the bases loaded, a run in and one out, Felipe Vazquez was handed the ball to face Yelich and Aguilar. Yelich singled after being given new life; the ump missed a pretty obvious strike three call. Suddenly, Aguilar was the lead run at bat. But the drama ended; his shot to third became an around-the-horn DP and for the fourth time in five games, you can RTJR.

Josh was on base four times (photo Dave Arrigo/Pirates)

Notes:

• The Buc's 6-7-8 guys were tonight's generator. J-Bell walked three times and scored three times; J-Hay had two hits, two walks, touched home and chased a run in while Jordy had three knocks and plated four Pirates while scoring once. Jordy's four RBI tied his career high; this was the fourth time he's chased home that many runs. Starling also had two hits and an RBI; Freeser had a knock and two walks. The Bucs had nine hits and drew eight walks tonight.
• Jamo's 10 whiffs are a career high and the season high for the Pirates; he's the first Bucco pitcher to hit double-digit K's this year.
• How rarely does J-Hay draw two walks in a game? It's the second time this year; the first was on Opening Day back in March. He now has 10 free passes for the year.
• There were 17,858 in the house tonight.
• Element of surprise: Kratz's stolen base was his first in the show; it was also his first attempt.
• The Pirates hosted 70 students and teachers from Escuela Dr. Pila, a high school in Ponce, Puerto Rico. They're here as part of a national school convention.