Brewer's Blast Bucs In 11-5 Win

Well, Big Joe's May didn't get any better; a leadoff double and two-out dinger by Mike Moustakas put the Brew Crew up 2-0 out of the gate; Joe was lucky to escape with that as he left runners at second and third after MM's bomb. Chase Anderson spun a clean frame. Milwaukee opened the second with a rap, and again the Brewers struck with two outs when Christian Yelich tripled. J-Bell banged a double to start up the Bucs, and went to third on Bryan Reynold's rap. After Redbeard K'ed, Eli singled Josh home and sent Bryan to third, but the Bucs couldn't get him in as their runner-at-third woes continue. Every run would help; Moustakas took Big Joe's fourth pitch of the third long and Yasmani Grandal clobbered the very next offering over the wall, too. K-Man opened with a rap; the next three Bucs went down quietly. The Brew Crew just managed a couple of singles in the fourth. Redbeard went yard in the Pittsburgh half, sending his shot '422; Eli singled but couldn't get a fire going.

Redbeard is second in homers and RBI on the club - Photo Pittsburgh Pirates

The Bucs got a break in the fifth; after a double and walk, a strike-em-out, throw-em-out DP during a double steal try helped carry Musgrove out of danger. Gregory drew a walk and Starling was bopped with one away, but both anchored in place. The Brewers went down without a peep in the sixth; Joe's day is done now, after 102 pitches. But he outlasted Anderson, who was replaced by Jeremy Jeffress. JJ 1-2-3'ed the Buccos. Alex McRae worked the seventh, giving up a knock and tossing a wild pitch while putting up a zippo. Tuck led off with a rap; it was wasted. With two outs in the eighth, McRae fell apart - a full-count walk, double and a couple of singles gave the Brewers the couple of runs needed to ice it. Corbin Burns gave up an infield rap and walk that left Bucs at second and third with two outs; Melky pinch hit and banged a double to plate the pair, then Tuck singled him home. Ric Rod was called in for the ninth (it's his fourth outing in four days), and yep, the first hitter, Eric Thames, homered and it got worse. A couple of doubles, a couple of walks, and it was 11-5 just like that. Matt Albers mopped it up.

Melky got the Bucs back in it, briefly - Photo Pittsburgh Pirates

Clint won't use his Big Three when he's behind, and if his starters don't keep it close, the remaining five aren't likely to have many shutdown innings in them. It's really frustrating to claw back and then watch guys get lit up, especially now that the offense, while not exactly well oiled, is pushing some runs home. And yes, for the millionth time, we know the injuries are on a biblical scale. But one reason they're scuffin' now is because back in March, when they knew they were set at the MLB level but paper-thin behind them, they did nothing to buttress the staff. Reap what ya sow. And we will say this; these guys made be outgunned most days, but they don't mail games in.

Notes:

• Bryan Reynolds, Eli and Tuck each had a pair of hits.
• Pittsburgh has lost 8-of-11 and given up 5+ runs in 10 of those games; the bright side is that they've score 5+ runs six times.
• The Brewers banged out 11 extra-base hits, one off their franchise record. They pounded out 18 raps during the game.
• Josh Bell is the third player in NL history with 12+ doubles and 12+ home runs in any calendar month. The other two were Hank Aaron and Frank Robinson, both in July 1961, per StatsBySTATS.
• There were 13,059 at the ballyard tonight on a gray and threatening evening.