After two outs; the A's suddenly solved Trevor Williams; a double, triple and a trio of singles made it 3-0 in a hurry. Gregory isn't up to game speed in the field yet; his arm concedes a extra base on every hit and he misplayed the triple; the long downtime is showing. Chris Bassitt 1-2-3'ed the Bucs. Willy got through with just a walk in the second. The Bucs got a run back on J-Bell's bomb. A couple of walks followed, doing no more than turning the order over. The A's got a single and no more in the third. Fraze singled and J-Bell banged his second dinger with two outs to tie it up, dropping the ball into the shrubbery 451' away in center. Bryan Reynolds kept on stroking with a rap before Redbeard whiffed. Willy did his job with a shutdown fourth. He added a single in the Pirate half to make the only peep. The A's got a double whammy triple in the fifth; Trevor made a miserable 0-2 pitch and Gregory had problems with the ball that hit high off the Clemente Wall, turning a double into a three-bagger. A single put Oakland up before a DP cleaned things up. The Bucs made no noise after Starling's infield hit was overturned by challenge to start the frame.
 |
| Willy dug deep after a shaky start (photo Joe Guzy/Pittsburgh Pirates) |
Wully finished his night with a clean sixth, saving a thin bullpen and keeping the Bucs hangin' around at the same time. Liam Hendriks took the hill and was greeted by back-to-back knocks by Reynolds and Moran (K-Man ran for him). Cervy bunted them up and Melky, batting for Tuck, was walked intentionally as part of the chess match. Clint was outplayed this round - Kang K'ed hitting for Willy and Fraze popped out as the plating guys from third base woes continue, plus the bench is now down to Eli. Keone Kela gave up a double to open the seventh, waved to the dugout, and was yanked for Michael Feliz. Not only is it raining, but KK was escorted off by the trainer, sheesh. Feliz gave up a walk, but a couple of K kept the plate clean. JB Wendelken climbed the bump and Gregory said "hiya" with a double. J-Bell was walked with first base open. A force left runners on the corners before K-Man chased them both home with a welcome-back-to-the-bigs (
yes, he was pumped) triple into the RF corner. And praise the Lord, Cervy brought home a runner from third with two outs by banging a grounder into left. Big Joe pinch hit and dropped a bunt single before JHK whiffed again to end the fun.
Kyle Crick took the hill in the eighth and tossed a clean, nine-pitch frame. Ryan Buchter took the ball and surrendered a challenge-upheld infield rap to Gregory with two outs, but Josh was out of long balls, flying out. Felipe Vazquez got the call for the ninth. He was touched for a two-out single but whiffed the last batter to give the Bucs a hard-earned victory. Raise the Roger.
 |
| J-Bell kept the Bucs in it (photo/Pittsburgh Pirates) |
J-Bell and K-Man were the heroes, but give the pen and Willy credit; he could have folded his tent but went five more innings, giving up just one run, after a rough opener. Here's hoping Gregory's arm gets stronger as the summer comes along; he's raking but is a real issue in right now. And Clint? - bunting up the runners and then sending up his only bona-fide hitting threat with first base open, a move with absolutely predictable counter from Colt League up. But the Pirates had enough in the tank on a damp evening to get it done, even if the injury list keeps growing if Kena is down for any time. We look at it as beginning the final transition, scheduled for next season, to begin now. Wonder how long JHK can hold off K'Bryan Hayes...?
Notes:
- It's a little easier to score when the middle of the order - Gregory, J-Bell and Bryan Reynolds - each collect a pair of hits. Josh has eight long balls already; he only had a dozen all of last season. Reynolds now has an 11-game hitting streak to begin his MLB career, tying Gregory Polanco's 2014 team mark. Another knock tomorrow not only gives him the franchise record but gets him in the MLB's all-time top ten.
- Keona Kela has "right shoulder discomfort." Texas put him on the DL (as it was then known) for shoulder soreness last year and the Pirates shut him down to rest it in September, so this is a worrisome "discomfort" to have pop up.
- The crowd was announced as 26,447; fireworks night never disappoints! And despite the raindrops, the Zambelli's launched their array after the game.
- The Bucs called Dovy Neverauskas up and DFA'ed JB Shuck in a late move, so the bench is short a player again.
- With Archie and Jamo on the IL, Steven Brault will start for the Pirates on Tuesday and Nick Kingham on Wednesday against the Rangers.
No comments:
Post a Comment