Arch Chased Early, Bucs Can't Climb Back In 7-4 Loss to Brewers

Chase Anderson started off by bopping Starling, but he was nabbed trying to steal and it ended up a 1-2-3 frame. Chris Archer had a whiff and a walk in a quiet inning. Pittsburgh went in order in the second. The Brewski Boys got a double, walk, wild pitch and steal to work with, but Arch dodged the bullet. Pittsburgh made no noise in the third; Hechy drilled one, but it was just another 375+' out to center. Lorenzo Cain hustled out a lead off triple into the right field corner off a two-strike heater and a sac fly cashed him in. That was followed by a two-out double and single to tally another score, with an off-line throw home and missed catch by Eli (Arch didn't help by failing to back up the play); Diaz also dropped the peg home on the earlier sac fly on what would have been a close play. Then Mike Moustakas hit a moon shot off a hung slider; Arch is being used as a punching bag again, with no help from his defense. That was followed by a single and Manny Pina's long fly before the bell sounded. The Bucs only response in the fourth was a Fraze single. Arch got a couple of whiffs in a calm frame.

With two gone if the fifth, Red Beard singled and Hechy's drive found grass this time for an RBI two-bagger, with Moran sliding in just ahead of the throw. Nick Kingham climbed the bump and tossed a clean frame, with a whiff. In the sixth, Starling opened with a double and Fraze went boom; so did Gregory behind him. Cervy singled and lefty Josh Hader was waved on to face Corey D with no outs and Brew Crew switches galore. Dickerson banged into a force that turned into a DP when Fran was rung up for an illegal take out slide (he was guilty as charged) and another bouncer shut the door with the score 6-4. The Brewers got one right back when Jonathan Shoop homered to start up the Brew Boys. The next guy reached when Cervy dropped a pop (no infield fly in effect) and then was bunted up but stayed anchored. Hader fanned a pair in a quiet seventh. Kyle Crick, making his first outing since getting drilled in the back on Wednesday, took the ball. His command was rusty; he got a 3-2 K, followed with another full count that ended with a bopped batter. A quick force out and caught stealing finished the frame efficiently.

Fraze stayed hot (photo Dylan Buell/Getty)

Joakim Soria got the eighth. Starling reached on a misthrow and after two pops, another throw away put Bucs on the corners. Corey D launched a 109 MPH liner; it was an at 'em ball to first baseman Jesus Aguilar and ended the inning. Ric Rod answered the phone and Gregory make a sweet sliding grab at the track for out number one, followed by a pair of routine put-aways. Jeremy Jeffress settled in for the ninth. Eli opened by legging out a left side bleeder; funny game in that Diaz's dnk is a hit, then Red Beard's following rope to left was an out. Hechy smacked another bullet; this one was drilled right at short and turned into a DP when Eli was caught off first.

Lotta "if onlys" this game...if Arch puts up even a decent fight on the hill; if Eli hangs on to a throw and makes the inning-ending tag instead of opening the gates for a six-run frame; if Pirates liners could find grass instead of gloves... But wishin' and hopin' don't carry much weight in the baseball world, and the Bucs suffered another frustrating loss in a long string of tight defeats. Off tomorrow and then onward to meet the sizzlin' Cards.

Notes:

• Fraze had two of the Bucs' eight hits; there were no walks as the Brew Crew elected to fill up the strike zone today and challenge the Pirate hitters.
• On his radio show, NH said Jordy looks likely to remain on the DL until September and that they're evaluating J-Hay's hammy, which will need some down-time to heal, although the Bucs continue oddly enough to use him off the bench. To its credit, the club has a lot of guys who insist on playing through injuries, but sometimes the docs have to be the adult in the room.
• Ah, the nomad life of a journeyman catcher - Chris Stewart, recently activated by the Braves, has just been DFA'ed (no options left) as Kurt Suzuki is back in action.
• On the other hand, the Tigers have just called up LHP Josh Smoker from AAA.
• RHP Juan Nicasio, who was having a pretty sad campaign in Seattle (1-6-1/6.00) is done for the year, as he will have season-ending surgery on his knee, which has been a season-long bother.