Jake Walks It Off As Bucs Comeback For 7-6 Win In Royals Opener

With two outs, a bopped batter and an airmailed throw from Kevin Newman left Royals at second and third, but Big Joe got a comebacker to hold KC at bay. Brad Keller got three soft outs after a lead off walk to Fraze. Kansas City stranded a one-out double in the second.  The Bucs managed a two-out rap by K-Man for their efforts. The Royals opened with a single and bunt, well played by J-Grove to get an out. An Alex Gordon double made it 1-0 in the third. Fraze singled with one gone. A bouncer moved him along and Corey D's rap tied the game. J-Bell's knock got him to third, but J-Low lined softly into the third out. Big Joe tossed a clean fourth. With an out, K-Man legged out an infield bleeder and Jake moved him to third on a hit-and-run single. J-Grove fanned, then Fraze picked up the slack, ripping a 3-1 center-cut heater into right for a two-out, two-run, two-bagger. Pablo Reyes replace Adam (both on the bases and at second), who had fouled a ball off his knee during the at bat. Starling has been icy lately and fanned to end the fun.

K-Man had his first 3-hit MLB game (photo Pittsburgh Pirates)

Keller started the fifth with a grounder into right, followed by another knock after an out. Gordon stayed hot, singling in Keller and leaving runners on the corners. A third straight single knotted the match; Big Joe is leaving too many pitches over the dish at the belt. A bloop double gave KC the lead and a sac fly (Corey D made a nice snag by The Notch to keep it from joining the hit parade) added to it before the frame ended. The Pirates had no response in their half. The sixth was quiet for KC. Jake singled with two gone but it didn't start anything. Steven Brault spun an efficient, eight-pitch seventh. Keller started the frame at 99 pitches and Pablo began things with a single. Starling followed with a soft infield knock, bringing in lefty Tim Hill. A Dickerson grounder moved the runners up; the bang-bang out call was challenged but upheld. The soft parade continued as J-Bell legged out another infield knock to make it 5-4 and leave Bucs on the corners. Righty Jake Newbury came in to face J-Low, who smoked a liner but right to Hunter Dozier at third. Krame followed with an 100 MPH, 390' laser to dead center; it was run down by Brian Goodwin a step from the fence. Seems like the harder ya hit 'em...

Brault's second pitch of the eighth was yanked over The Clemente Wall, courtesy of Ryan O'Hearn, and Michael Feliz was waved in. He gave up a single but allowed no further fuss. Kevin McCarthy toed the slab and gave up a two-out infield roller to Joey O and a wild pitch moved him to second. The charity continued when Pablo hustled out an infield single, and when the throw to first was misplayed, Osuna scooted home. Starling was late on a fastball, but still banged it hard the opp way for a game-tying triple. Corey hit the ball on the nose, too, but it was an 100 MPH at 'em ball to first. Still, it's all tied up after eight. Edgar Santana tossed a clean ninth and Ben Lively camo on for KC.J-Bell walked and J-Low hit into an around-the-horn DP; he's smoked a couple right at 3B Dozier tonight. Krame then walked, followed by a K-Man knock. Jake Stallings shot a 1-2 curve into left to chase home Kramer and earn the Buccos a walk-off win. RTJR.

Jake looking pretty comfortable in Pittsburgh (photo Pittsburgh Pirates)

Entertaining game between two teams playing out the string. Soft hits, hards outs, glovely plays, wild tosses, and down to the wire. As for the performance, it's tough to tell if the grind is getting to Big Joe or if his penchant to fill up the strike zone has been biting him lately; still, it's good to get 20 starts out of him and acclimate him to every-five-days routine. The rest of the pups are showing fairly well in their September showcases and the vets are still playing to win.

Notes:

• The Pirates dribbled and blasted 16 hits tonight. Jake and K-Man had three each while Fraze, Pablo, Starling and J-Bell had a pair. 15 were singles, but hey...
• Kevin Newman has a six-game hitting streak and his first three-hit game. It's his third multi-hit contest since his mid-August call-up.
• Fraze has "right knee discomfort" per the Bucs.
• O'Hearn's homer was the first this year by a lefty off Steven Brault.
• The paid attendance was 10,316; they're lucky if half made it to the park.
• KC's big fifth inning was started by pitcher Brad Keller's single, his first MLB hit; he hadn't taken a swing during a big league game before tonight.
• Before the game started, there was a moment of silence for Mac Miller and the victims of Hurricane Florence; tough week in the real world news.