Willy, Fraze Too Much For Reds; Buccos Win 5-1

Joey Votto beat out a one-out swinging bunt and Scooter Gennett lived up to his pest role, fouling off eight straight pitches before doubling off a shin-high change. Willy, par for the course, worked out of it. After a check-swing bouncer by Starling, Fraze got the Bucs on the board with a long fly to right. Gregory followed with an infield knock, deflected by Matt Harvey before the opening frame was in the books after Corey D's 392' fly to center was gloved by Billy Hamilton. Geez, plz pull a ball, guys! After a 28-pitch first, Trevor put the Reds down on six tosses in the second. The Bucs went quietly. Both sides better "swing batta swing" as plate ump Ted Barrett has called a pretty wide strike zone so far.  It took 11 tosses to sit the Redlegs down in the third. Trevor singled; Starling hit into a 4-6-3 DP  followed by a Fraze two-bagger before it ended. Willy bopped a batter in an otherwise routine fourth. Cervy led off with a knock; a pop, whiff and comebacker made for an easy escape for Harvey. A leadoff single and misfire on a pickoff put the Reds in business in the fifth, but Williams didn't allow another ball to leave the infield. Pittsburgh went down in order.

Willy da man (photo Joe Guzy/Pirates)

Cincy worked a two-out walk in the sixth to no avail. Fraze blooped a single, his third knock of the day, to open and Gregory dinged a ball into the seats for some breathing room. The Reds got a single, DP and single in the seventh; Clint waved in Ric Rod to get the last out. Sal Romano got the ball and gave up a blooper to K-Man. Joey O's grounder was thrown away in an attempt to start a DP (when did that feed become so difficult?), putting Bucs at second and third. Starling popped out, but Fraze kept his bat blazing with a two-run rap, taking second on the throw home (the safe call was challenged by Cincy but upheld; Joey O did beat the tag by a hair) and dying there. Kyle Crick took the hill in the eighth, trying to get back into the groove. Billy Hamilton bled a soft infield hit to open, but was erased on a Joey Votto 4-6-3 DP ball. That saved some problems after Scooter Gennett homered before an inning-ending whiff. Jackson Stephens was flipped the ball. He lucked out when Cervy's rope was an at 'em ball, then found his bearings and picked up a pair of punch outs. Keone Kela mopped it up cleanly. RTJR.

Nice win; Willy is on an incredible roll. Have to wonder why Clint burned Kela in the ninth, but that's just a quibble. The Buc O is still kinda mired; the breakout inning was a Reds gift. Now to wait and see who gets the call to the big club and how Clint uses them. Seems like a good time for 2019 auditions to begin.

Fraze looking like the Bucs 2B of the future (photo Pittsburgh Pirates)

Notes:

• Willy has a 0.66 ERA in his last nine starts; it's also the ninth time he's gone five or more frames of shutout ball.
• This was the second time Fraze has had a four-hit game; he was 4-for-5 against the Dodgers in 2016. He also drove three Buccos home. Gregory added a pair of hits. J-Bell is struggling; he fanned three times and hasn't collected an RBI since August 12th. Corey Dickerson is in the same boat; he hasn't chased home a run since August 11th. Those guys are two big reasons the Bucco attack has been sputtering.
• Gregory's 23rd homer is his career single-season high.
• Kyle Crick has hit a bit of a wall since August; he's only had two clean outings out of 13 and been scored on in six of the appearances.
• Eli is not available today; he suffered a hammy twinge during the Atlanta series.
• Not much of a holiday crowd - just 13,843 turned out for today's contest.
• The Pirates are 26th in MLB in pull % and third in oppo field % per Fangraphs, which explains a lot of the power outage problems. Maybe the Pirates staff  could tweak that "all fields" philosophy a bit to get guys to yank the ball ala Gregory (46%) & Fraze (35% overall but higher since his recall).
• 3B Ke'Bryan Hayes and SS Kevin Kramer were named to the MLB Pipeline Players of the Week squad, the final one of the season. The Pirates, 'Stros & Rays led the list with 13 PTOW honorees this year.
• In a vaguely baseball related item, Trey Griffey was signed to the Steelers practice squad. The wide receiver is the son of Ken Griffey Jr. and the grandson of Donora's Ken Griffey Sr.