Tribe Tumbles 9-4 as Bucs Take 11th Straight Behind Three-Homer Attack

Corey D opened with a two-bagger off Shane Bieber, and four pitches later Starling Marte put a ball into the seats to give Joe Musgrove a quick 2-0 pad. A leadoff double, bunt (well played by Musgrove to get the out) and grounder cut the lead in half. J-Bell and J-Hay singled around a force out in the second and were cashed in by Corey D's two-out triple, off the CF's mitt as he banged into the wall at the 408' mark. Starling came back from 0-2 to work the count full, and his infield knock plated Dickerson. Gregory also rallied from 0-2 to 3-2, then crushed a fat fastball into the stands; holy two-out lightning! Dan Otero came in to get the third out. The Tribe opened with a soft infield knock followed by three quiet at bats. Red Beard and Freeser had raps bookending an out in the third but no damage followed. Three Indians, three groundouts for J-Grove. Ollie Perez took over in the fourth and K'ed a pair in a clean frame. Edwin Encarnation led off with a homer to cut into the lead.

J-Grove cruised behind lots of support tonight (photo Pittsburgh Pirates)

Neil Ramirez came on in the fifth and the Bucs got it back quickly when Eli singled and J-Bell lost a baseball. The Cleves went down in order. The Pirates opened the sixth with a knock and walk, but a  DP and whiff took the air out of that balloon. Issuing an opening free pass didn't hurt J-Grove. Brad Hand came on in the seventh; he was tapped for a leadoff knock but another DP deflated the frame. It was a no-sweat frame for Musgrove. Adam Cimber toed the slab in the eighth and tossed an easy inning. Steven Brault got the call; J-Grove gave up two runs on five hits with a walk and two strikeouts. Brandon Guyer bopped a solo shot, followed by a two-out walk and knock, but Steven shut the door after running up a full count. Cody Allen opened the ninth and J-Low singled. Then Cody caught a break; the next three Bucs squared up but they all lined out to center. Edgar Santana answered the phone call. He was dented for a two-out knock followed by a hung slider that was banged for a run-scoring double. He then fanned his way out of the mild jam - RTJR.

Hopefully Corey is OK, and if the pen had to have a bad day, this was a good one to pick. Can't explain the evolution of the Bucs into the '27 Yankees; just sit back and soak it in.

Hopefully Corey's hammy was just tweaked (photo Pittsburgh Pirates)

Notes:

• The Pirates sent 10 hitters to the plate tonight; all of them had at least one hit. Corey D, Starling, Eli and J-Bell had two hits each. The club collected 14 raps.
• Ruh-roh: Corey Dickerson was yanked after he felt left hammy "discomfort" while running out a ball in the fourth inning. Jordan Luplow took over in left.
• Starling has a 17-game hit streak after tonight; his seventh July homer was the most he's ever hit in one month. It's the ninth straight game that the Bucs have hit a bomb.
• The Pirates have scored six or more runs in seven straight games for the first time since 1946, when they were led by rookie and future Hall-of-Famer Ralph Kiner, per ESPN Stats.
• Rotoworld passed on a report from the Dallas Morning News by beatman Evan Grant that the Bucs may be interested in the Ranger RHP Keone Kela as a set-up man.