Bombs Away In Pittsburgh PA - Pirates Roll 14-6 Over Rox

Jordan Lyles dodged a first-inning bullet. The leadoff batter blooped a single into shallow left, and two outs later, a double set the Rox up, but a tapper back to the mound closed it out. Antonio Senzatela  had nowhere to hide. He bopped Starling, who stole second and scored ahead of Gregory's homer. J-Bell walked and came in on Melky's double; Cabrera took third on the play at home and tallied on Redbeard's single to make it 4-0 from the jump. Both sides went quietly in the second. The Rox stayed quiet in the third; the Bucs added on. J-Bell banged a two-bagger and scored on Redbeard's single. An Eli single and K-Man walk loaded the sacks for Lyles, who bounced a two-run knock into right. The party ended on a break for Senzatela; Fraze's liner to second turned into a DP. Colorado was 1-2-3'ed in the fourth; a Starling double and J-Bell single made it 8-0. Chad Bettis saved further embarrassment by getting Melky to bounce into another inning-ending DP. Again, no Rockies runners in the fifth; the Bucs got a single. But in the sixth, the Rox dropped an avalanche of two-out hits on Jordan.

Brian Giles? The Cobra? Pops? Nah, just lil' ol' J-Bell. (photo MLBPipeline)

With a runner on second and two outs, four singles and a four-pitch walk cut the Pirates lead in half, to 8-4,  and brought in Geoff Hartlieb. He walked a guy, tossed a wild pitch and gave up a knock to make it 8-6 before the flames were doused. Mike Dunn took the ball for the Rockies. Fraze singled, then Starling bounced into the Bucs third DP of the afternoon, making for a calm inning. Kyle Crick got the ball for the seventh and gave up a bunt single, followed by a grounder into left. A comebacker was turned into a big DP (lots of them today) and a whiff put up another goose egg. J-Bell got Big Mo to wink at the Bucs by leading off with a dinger into the bullpen off Carlos Estevez, with the crowd chanting "MVP" before and after the blow. Colin legged out a hustle double an out later, and it kept going. Eli walked and with two away, Bryan Reynolds went yard to restore some deep breathing room. An error and a Starling blast made it a 14-6 romp again before Jake McGee took the ball to get the final out. Frankie got a pair of K in a clean eighth. Yency Almonte matched him. Montana DuRapau got back on the bike for the ninth (how often does the guy who started yesterday's game get to finish today's?) and was touched for a two-out rap but flipped another zero at the Rox. Raise the Roger.

Notes:

• J-Bell and Redbeard led the hit parade with three knocks; Bell, Starling, Bryan Reynolds and Gregory homered. Five different Pirates had two RBI; Marte & Bell scored three times; Eli and Colin twice.
• Today, the Bucs hit the daily double -14 runs is their highest offensive output of the year, and eight runs is the largest margin of victory.
• Josh Bell has played in all 47 games, but the next two might surprise ya - Melky has been in 45, then Redbeard at 44. Fraze at 43 is next on the ironman list.
• Jordan Lyles had retired 14 straight batters before his sixth-inning collapse.
• There were 15,490 ticket holders for today's game.