How Sweet It Is - Bucs Win 4-3 In 9th

Great start - Fraze singled, and with two away (Anthony Rendon had trouble handling Cervy's potential inning-ending DP ball, settling for one out to keep Pittsburgh at bat), J-Bell doubled him home after fighting back from 0-2. Redbeard's knock plated Josh, and the Bucs had a 2-0 pad against Mighty Max. The Nats quickly got a run back when Adam Eaton singled and stole second, scoring on Howie Kendick's double before Jamo settled in. Both clubs went down 1-2-3 in the second. Fraze walked to start the third, and he got to second with two outs, from where a red hot J-Bell doubled him home. Colin singled again, but this time Bell was cut down at home. It was a nevertheless a good send by Joey Cora with two outs and Scherzer on the hill; CF Michael Taylor had to make a perfect throw and gunned a strike. Washington had an answer; a walk and two ground ball singles knotted the score. Pittsburgh made not a peep in the fourth; the Nats had a single erased via the DP. Jamo started the fifth with a rap that he should have had two bases on; it cost when a Starling DP ball killed the frame. That's the name of the game so far; the Nats lost a leadoff knock to yet another DP, allowing Jamo to sail through the frame.

J-Bell is on fire (image Positively Pittsburgh)

It was an easy sixth for Max; a generous strikeout call and a smoked out to center gave him a clean frame. Anthony Rendon kept his hitting streak alive at 13 with an opening rap; he moved to third on a pair of grounders and another bouncer ended it. Not that Max needs it, but he got another wide strike to punch out J-Mart in a quiet seventh. Nick Burdi took over (three runs, seven hits, a walk & four K's after 80 pitches for Jamo, with some booth guesswork that he may have developed a blister). Max singled with an out but no mayhem resulted. Fraze doubled with an out, but Rendon robbed Starling of an RBI with a web gem snag at third and Cervy couldn't cash Adam in. Felipe Vazquez took the hill for the 2-3-4 hitters (holy matchup, Clint!). A walk and two-out knock that barely eluded Fraze put Nats at the corners, but The Nightmare left them there. Wander Suero took the ball in the ninth and walked J-Bell. A grounder moved him up and that was big; he plated on J-Mart's two-out ground rule double. But nothing's easy - Victor Robles blooped a fly into left for a leadoff single. After a K, a walk and bunt single jammed the sacks; not a ball hard hit, and still... Another whiff (on a 3-2 fastball that froze Howie Kendick) set up a Felipe-Rendon showdown for the game. A pop into center was cradled by Starling, and you can raise the Roger.

J-Mart is one of today's heroes (photo Joel Auerbach/Getty)

With two of the next four days off and a leaky bullpen, Clint, to his credit, went out of his comfort zone and played for the win. It cost Felipe 43 pitches - he had the bad luck of some soft hits - but gave the Bucs a win. Jamo, too, was encouraging, with a ton of balls hit in the dirt. The Bucs have had a streak of reeling in some well struck balls, and today the Nats evened up with some gentle knocks. It was a great win after suffering a brutal loss 21 hours prior, and with a boatload of team heroes - Felipe, Burdi, J-Bell, Redbeard, Fraze, J-Mart and Gonzo, who was hitless but in on two DP's. The guys should enjoy the day off. Now if we can only get Starling (.211) and Cervy (.196) to warm up their bats and join J-Bell, Colin and Melky...

Notes:

• J-Bell, Colin Moran and Fraze each had two hits; they scored all four runs and drove in three, saving the game winner for J-Mart.
• In the clutch - all four Pirates runs came after two outs as Pittsburgh was a gaudy 5-for-9 w/RISP.
• This was the first time the Pirates have won a series in Washington since 2013.
• Small sample size, but Nick Burdi's had 13 balls put in play against him; six have ended up hits. The batted ball gods owe him some love, tho 13 whiffs in 6-2/3 IP have kept the damage to a minimum.
• The Bucs are off tomorrow, then go to Motown for a pair of games before coming home for a seven-game Easter stand.