Jamo, Felipe & the Kids Come Through In 4-3 Victory Over the Redbirds

No probs for young Daniel Poncedeleon in the first; he tossed a 1-2-3 inning with two whiffs. Jamo walked Matt Carpenter to open, he stole second and moved to third on a grounder. Marcell Ozuna's two-out dying quail scored him. J-Low started the second by dropping a single into left, Pablo Reyes got a rap an out later and Kevin Newman's knock packed the sacks. Jacob Stalling's sac fly knotted the score before JT fanned. The Cards were quiet in their half. Starling singled with one gone in the third and J-Bell showed a good eye to walk. J-Low rolled a cutter into left to plate Marte, followed by a pair of whiffs. Poncedeleon tripled on a grounder that found its way past Reyes into the LF corner, but Jamo left him stranded three outs later. Pittsburgh was hushed in the fourth, as was St. Louis, thanks to a Luplow dive and grab of a blooper. Fraze smoked a bullet to right, Marte rolled a putt to first and J-Bell fanned in the fifth. Harrison Bader legged out an infield single to start the Redbird half, was bunted up and stole third. Jameson kept him there.

Jordan Luplow had a big day with three hits (photo Pittsburgh Pirates)

Mike Mayers took the bump in the sixth and J-Low welcomed Mike with his third knock before Krame fanned, also for the third time. Pablo singled and K-Man's ball up the middle was knocked down by Mayer, but left no play, and that loaded the bases. Jacob slapped a slider up the middle to plate a pair. Jamo bunted the remaining runners up, bringing on LHP Tyler Webb to face Fraze, who popped out. The Birds hit into a couple of hard outs around a K during their swings. Dominic Leone got the seventh and was touched for a one-out J-Bell knock, followed by a pair of strikeouts. Jamo tossed a clean frame. Brett Cecil walked Pablo to begin the eighth, but another hard-hit ball by Newman was snagged and a 4-6-3 DP by Stalls ended it quietly. A Redbird walk and infield knock put JT in hot water, and Felipe Vazquez came on with the top of the order up. A one-out single (a routine fly lost in the sun by Corey D) loaded 'em, and a chopped force brought home a run. Chasen Shreve fanned a pair in a no-noise Bucco ninth. Felipe was going for the six-out save and gave up a leadoff single. A one-out walk and Patrick Wilson single pulled the Birds within a run and sent the game-tying run to third; a stolen sack put the winning run at second.He ran the count full to Carpenter before catching him looking at a slider. RTJR.

Felipe got the last six outs (photo Pittsburgh Pirates)

The kids did alright, with Luplow, Newman, Reyes and Stallings all looking like major leaguers for the day, and tho Kramer couldn't hit a mushball, he made a couple of very nice plays at third and has some time to figure it out, as K-Man is slowly but surely doing. Still can't quite figure out how Clint's gray cells fire when it's bullpen time, but with a day off before and after, this was as good a time as any to stretch Felipe.

Notes:

• Jordan Luplow had three hits, two runs scored and an RBI. Pablo Reyes had two knocks, a walk and run tallied while Kevin Newman had a pair of raps. The Pirates had 10 hits, all singles. On the other side of the pillow, Kevin Kramer earned his first MLB Golden Sombrero by fanning four times. Seven different Buccos K'ed 12 times today.
• This was Jacob Stallings' second three-RBI game in the show; he also brought home three runs last year against the Nats on October 1st.
• Today was J-Low's first three-hit day in the majors and his eighth career multi-hit contest.
• Jameson Taillon's three earned runs or fewer in 19 consecutive starts streak is the most by a Pirates pitcher since Bob Friend strung together 23 in 1963.
• This was the second time Felipe has gone two innings this year. He also tossed a pair of frames against the Brewers on August 24th.
• Daniel Poncedeleon's triple was his first MLB hit. Big day for the rookie; five IP was also his longest MLB start.