Pirates Continue To Sputter In 5-2 Loss to Redbirds

Jack Flaherty worked an easy first. Matt Carpenter opened with an infield knock (that should have been a boot) after a kinda comical effort by J-Bell on a roller. He moved up on a wild pitch and grounder but could have saved the effort as Jose Martinez clubbed a down-and-in sinker 402' to make it 2-0. Three Buccos, three pop-ups in the second. It was a clean frame for Ivan thanks to a sliding grab by Starling. Flaherty sailed through the third and then singled to start the Bird half. Marte ran down a liner just short of the track and a 6-4-3 DP barred the gate. Starling drilled a 392' out before the Bucs went down in the fourth. A single and Tyler O'Neill's crushed dinger (436') on another tight sinker gave St. Louis a comfy pad. A walk and infield single with one gone, and a two-out walk to Flaherty on five pitches packed the sacks. With Carpenter up, that was it for Nova and in came Steven Brault who put out the fire. The Bucs did a lot wrong in the fifth but still got a run - Cervy singled; Corey D hit into a DP. Then J-Bell doubled and scored on Red Beard's single; Moran was thrown out at second after a late throw home; four batters, three hits and the inning is over. Steven stranded a lead off two-bagger.

Steven has looked pretty good in his second stint (photo Pittsburgh Pirates)

The was no Bucco noise in the sixth. Brault bopped a batter but no damage done. Cervy singled with two away in the seventh to no avail. Carpenter led off with a bloop to center before the side struck out. Jordan Hicks got the call in the eighth and walked J-Bell. Colin singled him to third; a Hechy around-the-horn DP plated a run, a trade off that the Birds will take every day. That was followed by another walk and an infield bleeder legged out by Starling. Dakota Hudson was waved in to face Fraze, and got a grounder to shut it down. Kyle Crick came on and he plunked a batter, then gave up a Jeff Gyorko double, dialed back from the original homer call after review. A routine grounder scooted past a drawn-in infield for one run; another was cut down at home before two whiffs sat St. Louis down. Bud Norris bopped Amore with an out in the ninth, but no prob; Corey hit into another DP.

Some pretty uninspiring baseball considering this stretch is against the teams they have to beat; doesn't seem to be much fire coming from the Pirates, who blew a couple of golden opps. Sure not a good sign for September...

Notes:

• Cervy had two hits and was bopped; Red Beard had two knocks, too, of the Pirates six raps.
• Bucco PR man Dan Hart dug out that Steven Brault is the first Pirates left-handed reliever to strike out six batters in a game since Ron Villone (also six) on May 13th, 2002 vs. Arizona. Take that, Elias!
• Josh Harrison's hammy may not be 100% for the rest of the year, per Clint, so he'll "pick our spots" for J-Hay to play.
• Adam Frazier had three straight multi-RBI games before his string was snapped tonight. The last Bucco to have four straight was Cutch in 2014.
• Old nemesis Kolten Wong won't be available this series; he was just placed on the 10-day DL with a hammy twinge. Jeff Gyorko hurt his groin late in the game and took a seat, so we'll see where he's at physically tomorrow.