No Comeback Today; Bucs Snakebitten 9-3

Fraze opened by getting aboard on a boot; an out later, raps by Melky, J-Bell and Bryan Reynolds made it 2-0 against Robbie Ray quickly. The Snakes started off with a single and steal off Nick Kingham. An out later, Jarrod Dyson swiped third, too, and scored on a knock, followed by another. Ketel Marte slapped a low heater to right for a double, tying the score and leaving the King in a heap o' trouble; these first innings have been murder lately. Uncle Ray visited and Nick got a whiff and fly to end his 36-pitch frame. Kingham walked with an out in the second and Fraze singled, but they stayed put. A walk, bunt and single left runners on the corners; a triple and double off J-Bell's mitt were next to run the tally to 5-2 before the flames died down. Reynolds singled with one gone in the third; an around-the-horn DP took care of that. A leadoff double, bouncer and single added another run to the Snake margin. The Pirates made not a peep in the fourth. Nick hasn't retired a leadoff batter yet; Eduardo Escobar kept the beat going by homering.

Starling is starting to feel it 2018 Prizm

Starling tripled with one away in the fifth and was thrown out at home on Melky's comebacker, while behind by five runs. J-Bell walked, but Reynold's liner to right was gloved for the third out. Michael Feliz took the ball, as Kingham was at 82 tosses. He gave up a walk and double, but almost wiggled out until he balked with two outs to plate another run. Matt Andriese got the sixth inning call and tossed a clean frame. Clay Holmes put up the first zero of the evening, giving up just a walk. Jimmie Sherfy worked the seventh; Jake Elmore, Fraze and Starling led off with knocks. Rally time? Nah - the next three Bucs (the 3-4-5 hitters) fanned. But the Snakes tacked another one on with a leadoff homer by Christian Walker. K-Man had a knock in the eighth and became the 10th Buc LOB. Montana DuRapau gave up a leadoff knock (pretty much tonight's tale) then settled in to get a couple of whiffs around a soft grounder. Archie Bradley came in to close it down. Starling, Melky and J-Bell combined to knock in a run before it was put to bed.

Montana so far is taking advantage of his time (photo MLB.com)

Hard to tell by the score that both teams had 13 hits. It's not hard to tell which team was 4-of-17 w/RISP and stranded a dozen, nor which team had seven extra-base raps. It's also looking an awful lot like the Bucs best be looking for another pitcher with Jamo out of action. Kingham and Brault were both given a chance to show something and haven't; whether that's just due to talent or because the Pirates buried them in a no-mans land where they don't work for long stretches and suddenly get thrown into the rotation, is a fair debate.

Notes:

• The first five Pirates in the order had 11 hits - Starling had three while Fraze, Melky, J-Bell and Bryan Reynolds each had a pair. But of the 12 outs they made, six were by strikeout. Reynolds left seven runners on, Melky six, and the six hitter, Cervy, had an 0-fer and stranded five.
• Pirates twirlers have thrown 30+ first-inning pitches in five of the past six starts.
• It's homecoming for SS Cole Tucker, a native of Phoenix who attended Mountain Pointe HS and had committed to the U of Arizona before being selected as the Bucs #1 pick in 2014. He had a group of about 300 fans here for the game.