Streak Snapped by Bauer 4-0

The first was quiet against Trevor Bauer with some bad news: he bopped Starling in the hand and he left the game after being erased on a stolen base try. Jamo got into a knock and walk jam but worked out of it thanks to a dandy force play on both ends by Jordy & S-Rod that was unsuccessfully challenged by the Indians. The Bucs went quietly in the second and ditto for the Tribe. The Pirates got a boot in the third but it didn't help. The Indians banged out back-to-back one-out raps and a force left Tribesmen on the corners; a steal put them both in scoring position. Edwin Encarnacion's single brought the pair home. Fraze opened the fourth with a double, but a couple of K's and a fly kept him there. Cleveland got a one-out triple; a fortuitous liner to Red Beard and a K kept the runner at bay. Bauer is dealing; he struck out the 6-7-8 hitters in the fifth. It was 1-2-3 for JT. Pittsburgh went in order again in the sixth. The Indians dropped a two-out knock in their half causing no damage.

Jamo was tough but Bauer was better (image Pittsburgh Pirates)

The Pirates drew a couple of free passes around a lineout in the seventh; at 94 pitches, Bauer may be tiring a bit. But he had enough to fan Freeser and get S-Rod on a grounder. A whiff, single and DP carried Jamo through the frame efficiently. Bauer came out in the eighth and gave up a leadoff knock to Jordy, bringing on Adam Cimber. Jake Stallings greeted him with a single, but J-Low bounced into a 4-6-3 DP. Brad Hand came in to face Fraze and K'ed him on four pitches as Frazier chased everything *sigh*. Kyle Crick came on and gave up a walk with one away; he stole second. With two gone, Felipe Vazquez was waved onto face lefty Yonder Alonso; he fed him five straight fastballs, the last down the middle at the knees on a 2-2 count, and Alonso put the game away with a long fly to right center. Hand whiffed the last two Buccos to cruise out.

It was a perfect storm - Bauer, whose ERA was fifth best in the majors, was dealing with great off-speed movement and going against a getaway day lineup with injured Corey D & Starling out and Eli & J-Bell on the bench (and oddly, never called on to hit). Fun while it lasted; let's hope that a) the injuries to Corey & Starling aren't serious and b) the Bucs can stay hot at home with the Cubs and Cards following the Mets.

Fraze is back with the big team(photo Pittsburgh Pirates)

Notes:

• Six Pirates reached base on three hits, two walks and an error. 13 Bucs fanned.
• Starling Marte's hand suffers from the ol' "discomfort" issue and will be examined when the Bucs return to Pittsburgh tomorrow. He's day-to-day as of now. On a less crucial note, it doesn't affect his batting streak as a HBP isn't considered an at-bat.
• Kyle Crick and Felipe Vazquez both had 15+ IP scoreless streaks coming into today; both strings ended when Alonso homered in the eighth.
• Adam Frazier has arrived. He was hitting .239 when he was sent down in early June and batted just .223 at Indy, so quite the surprise move even with Corey D's sore hammy; we guess they're going to bury Austin Meadows until he passes Super Two status. He was optioned on the 15th, so his 10 days in limbo were up. Casey Sadler was optioned back to Indy; we don't understand why he wasn't used last night. It would have been nice to give him an outing.
• The Pirates on the only team in contention that has sub-replacement level players at both short and third per Fangraph's Jay Jaffe.