Super Nova and Pen Carry Bucs to 3-1 Win Over Brew Boys

There was no Bucco noise in the first of Zach Davies. Not quite so for the Brewers; they kept playing long ball against Pittsburgh when Christian Yelich hit a solo shot off Ivan Nova. Corey D drew a one-out walk in the second. With two gone, Red Beard stayed with a heater away for a two-bagger to even the score. The Brewers opened with a bloop single; a pop and 6-4-3 DP cleaned it up. The Pirates got nada in the third. With two outs, Milwaukee got a walk and infield knock before Ivan shut it down. J-Bell led off the fourth with a rap and hustled home when Cervy followed with a double that kicked off the railing. After a whiff, J-Low fisted a soft liner into short left; it was run down. Fran misread it and was off to the races; he was easily doubled off second. Nova tossed a clean frame with a pair of punch outs; his curve is working tonight. The Bucs went down with no fuss in the fifth, ditto for the Brewski Boys. Southpaw Dale Jennings took over in the sixth, got Fraze on a hard grounder and was pulled for righty Jacob Barnes. Starling battled him and doubled on the eighth offering, followed by a J-Bell walk.  The runners were going on a 1-1 pitch and Cervy swung through a dead center fastball, but it worked out OK. Eric Kratz airmailed the ball trying to cut down Josh (good choice), with Starling scoring on the misthrow.

Ivan was sharp tonight (photo Pittsburgh Pirates)

Cervy fanned on a called strike three, griped and kept yapping while walking away, and was bounced; plate ump Tripp Gibson has rung up the low strike all night, which we assume Fran was aware of. Clint also went ballistic, trying to keep Fran from the man in blue, and also earned an early exit after crew chief Bruce Gorman got between the skipper and Gibson (Joey Cora eventually walked Cervy back to the bench). After the smoked cleared, Dickerson walked and Junior Guerra was waved in to retire J-Low on a fly. Jacob Stallings took Cervelli's spot. Ivan spun two quick outs before Lorenzo Cain's single. Two more tosses ended the nine-pitch frame with a nice grab by Corey D. Kevin Newman singled with an out in the seventh. Kevin Kramer whiffed batting for Nova; sorta surprised Ivan was pulled after just 76 pitches and four hits. Fraze's groundout brought on Ric Rod, who gave up a lead off double followed by *sigh* a wild pitch. No prob; he got two K's around a pop up. Starling and J-Bell were called on low pitches in the eighth; Gibson is bad but consistently so.

Stalling's fly ushered in Kyle Crick, who walked Eric Thames and wasn't close to the dish. A grounder moved Thames up and a TOOTBLAN erased him. He broke to third on a one-hopper to to the hot corner, and was picked off when a heads-up Moran tossed behind him, the Bucs eventually catching him in a run down (he actually got back to second safely, but was banged for leaving the base line; he was guilty as charged). A whiff finished it up. Jordan Lyles climbed the hill in the ninth and lost J-Low with one away, who was quickly caught trying to swipe second after a challenge (a good swipe just did edge him; the headfirst slide may have cost him there), and the frame ended quietly. Felipe Vazquez answered the call and was tapped for consecutive smoked singles. Now in gear, two garden variety outs and a whiff earned The Nightmare his 33rd save. RTJR.

Felipe added a little drama but brought it home (photo Pittsburgh Pirates)

Solid win, even if the baserunning of both teams was hardly a clinic. The Bucs pretty well kept the Brew Crew in the yard and there weren't many hits to roil the seas - the two clubs combined for 12 knocks and an 0-for-13 RISP night. The key this game was that the Bucco gloves made the plays and the Brew Crew had one very painful miscue. And it's nice to see the good Ivan Nova and his curve back.

Notes:

• The Pirates only had five hits.The only guys to reach twice were J-Bell with a walk & knock and Corey D with two free passes.
• Pittsburgh clinched the season series against the Brew Crew; they're 10-5 with four games left.
• The double steal in the sixth netted J-Bell his first swipe of the year. For Starling, it was old hat; he has 32 sacks stolen.
• Felipe has converted 23 straight save opportunities.
• For those who think Starling Marte lives in his own bubble, he's sponsoring an event on October 20th to fundraise for breast cancer. He's previously quietly been part of funders for pediatric cancer and Pirates Charities events.