Big Joe Gets the Heave-Ho In the First; Bullpen Game Turns Into 13-7 Bravo Romp

With two gone, Starling singled and went to second when Ronald Acuna fumbled the ball. It cost when J-Bell slapped a singled the opposite way to chase Marte home. Joe Musgrove gave up a two-bagger, then bopped Josh Donaldson with two outs. Donaldson then sparked a bench-clearing hubbub,  yet for some reason, Big Joe - who appeared relatively peaceable if yappy - got bounced, as did Clint, who was understandably honked about the whole affair. Donaldson got the hook, too. In came Alex McRae, with the Pirates already looking at a pair of TBD's this series. McRae fanned Nick Markakis to end a noisy inning quietly. Gregory singled to open the second and moved up on a swipe, dying at second. The Bravos got another batter nicked (with no riot) and walk to open their half. An tapper later, a passed ball on strike three loaded the bases. That was followed by an Acuna granny; looks like a long day in The Big Peach. It got worse; another walk, an infield knock and rap made it 5-1. The Bucs answered in the third; K-Man singled, Bryan Reynolds reached on a botched play by Gausman, and Starling lit him up for a three-run shot. Sean Newcomb took the bump shortly thereafter to quiet the bats. Alex surrendered a solo shot to Ozzie Albies, and it's 6-4.

One guy had himself a night- - 2017 Topps Allen Ginter

The Bucs got an error but couldn't do anything with it; a walk and Freddy Freeman homer kept the scoreboard turning against McRae. Both sides took a break in the fifth. The Pirates stayed quiet in the sixth while Geoff Hartlieb gave up a double/single combo with two outs to put up another Bravo point. Eli doubled to start the seventh and was left standing. Albies knocked another ball out of the yard to make it 10-4. Jerry Blevins got the eighth, and Starling banged his second long fly of the night. Redbeard singled between a pair of outs and the Bravos waved in Dan Winkler. Melky singled, Eli walked, and Corey Dickerson won a nine-pitch battle by plating a pair with a rap to center. Jacob Webb answered the phone and got the third out with the score 10-7. Montana DuRapau quickly got into hot water. A single and walk led it off; the Bravos helped by trying a double steal that was only half successful. Another knock and a Markakis bomb got all three runs back. J-Bell must not have a big night planned; he walked with two gone in the ninth but only delayed the outcome by a pitch.

OK, done beating a dead horse. Just a note - the Pirates called up 11 pitchers from Indy so far this year (yah, that's about the whole staff, and includes Ric Rod and Steven Brault) and not one has an ERA under 5.00; seven sport ERA's above 7.00.

Notes:

• Tonight was Starling's first multi-homer game since 2014. He had three hits, four RBI and plated three times. J-Bell, Gregory and Eli each had a walk and a knock,
• Bryan Reynolds' hitting and on-base streaks ended tonight with an 0-for-5 outing.
• C Deon Stafford of Bradenton was named the Florida State League Player of the Week after going 7-for-15 with three homers. The 23-year-old was a fifth round pick in 2017 from St. Joe's in Philly and is hitting .258 with four dingers for the Marauders.
• Prep RHP Quinn Priester, 18, the Pirates top draft pick (18th overall), signed today and the team will hold a 10 AM presser tomorrow to show him off before he reports to the GCL Pirates Rookie League squad. The Illinois youngster passed on his commit to TCU to turn pro. Jim Callis of MLB.com tweeted that the bonus was $3.4M, just under the slot value of $3,481,300, tho that figure is unconfirmed as of now.