Down To Last Out, Pirates Rally To Take 6-4, 11-Inning Win From Texas; Reynolds, Marte, Bell Provide the Muscle

Fraze opened the game by rolling a single into right off Adrian Sampson, and an out later, he scooted to third on Gregory's knock. J-Bell lined out to short, and Melky popped out on a hung curve; third base is where Pirates go to die. The Rangers started with a leadoff rap. Jordan Lyles caught a break when Rougned Odor swung at ball four and tapped into a force out. A K was followed by a caught stealing for a quiet frame. Colin Moran singled to leadoff the second, then Cervy was plunked in the hand/wrist and replaced by Elias Diaz. A fly out was followed by a force and Fraze fan; the Bucs are 0-for-5 w/RISP already. Texas got a two-out walk that lead to nothing but to run Lyles pitch count up to 43. It took Sampson seven pitches to put Pittsburgh away in the third. Texas drew a one-out walk followed by two strikeouts; he's got four now. Eli doubled with two away in the fourth to no avail. Elvis Andrus legged out an infield knock to start their half, followed by two walks on nine pitches with one away. A Texas League pop into right fell, plating a pair (Gregory has the arm of a Pony leaguer now) before two grounders ended it.

Jordan pitched well but was bit by bad luck (image Pittsburgh Pirates)

Sampson threw 10 pitches and fanned two in the fifth. Steven Brault took the hill and gave up a rap, but a K and 4-6-3 DP cleaned it up. J-Bell singled on a flare off Andrus' mitt with one out in the sixth and Colin added a two-out knock; Eli whiffed. Steven fanned a pair in a clean frame. Shawn Kelley gave up a Cotuck rap in the seventh; he went nowhere. Michael Feliz got the call and punched out a pair. Chris Martin walked Gregory to open the eighth. J-Bell went down looking at a pair of borderline strikes; ump Ed Hickox behind the plate has a wide zone and Josh, already bitten by it a couple of times, should be aware of it by now. Melky singled and JB Shuck came in to run for him. Colin swung through a two-strike meatball while Eli got five balls down the middle; the only one he could put between the lines was a grounder to second. With an out, a strikeout/passed ball put a Ranger on first; that was followed by a walk. They ran a double steal with two gone followed by a walk, and that brought in Frankie Liriano. He walked in a run, but got a grounder on a 3-1 pitch to finally shut the door.

Welcome back 2017 Topps Heritage New Age

Jose Leclerc got the ball; Bryan Reynolds doubled and Cotuck beat out an infield knock to open the ninth, and holy moly, Fraze singled home a run, sending Tuck to third. Starling struck out and so did Gregory (his was on two called strikes way outside; because of guys like Hickox, robo umps are gonna become a thing), but J-Bell came through, tying the game with a two-out two-bagger, but getting gunned down at trying to take third. Keone Kela gave up a leadoff rap, and a grounder, nicely snagged by Josh, moved Logan Forsythe to second, where KK kept him. Jesse Chavez worked a clean 10th, as did Kyle Crick. Bryan Reynolds fouled off five of the first seven pitches; he liked the eighth and dropped it into the batter's eye, 408' away. Fraze reached on an error an out later and plated when Starling went deep (422' into the Ranger bullpen) off a 3-2 cutter. J-Bell walked with two away, bringing in Ariel Jurado, who got JB on a grounder. Felipe Vazquez took the bump and Joey Gallo greeted him with a dinger. Texas didn't lay down; an out later, they got a knock to bring the tying run to the dish. He went to second on defensive indifference (a Bucco issue all year!). No diff; a fan closed out an improbable win. Seems like a long time since we've raised the Roger.

Notes:

• Bryan Reynolds has an eight-game hitting streak since he's been called up. He kept it alive in the ninth inning and then banged his first career homer in the 11th. He and Starling led the team with two hits, including a homer each. J-Bell, Fraze, Cotuck and Redbeard also added two knocks. The Pirates stranded 11, but came back to finish 4-of-14 w/RISP.
• The Pirates struck out 13 and gave up just seven hits, but seven walks hurt the cause.
• Cervy has "left wrist discomfort." Let's hope it's just a bruise.
• Despite the eight game losing streak, the Pirates finished the month 13-14.
• Hunter Owen, Altoona's Eastern League Player of the Week, homered tonight in a 5-3 win.
• The Tigers place J-Hay on the 10-day IL, retro to April 27th, due to a left shoulder contusion (or maybe his .156 BA, although a .181 BABIP explains a lot of that.)