Game Rained Out After Eight; Bucs Bow To Bravo Barrage 7-5

K-Man opened the game with an infield knock off Mike Foltynewicz and stole second ahead of a one-out Starling walk. A wild pitch moved them up, and both came home when J-Bell won a nine-pitch duel with Folty and banged a single to center. Good timing; Redbeard then bounced into a DP. It was a clean opening bell for Archie. The second went quietly for Pittsburgh; Macho Man Josh Donaldson banged a long fly off Archer to half the lead. Nick Markakis followed with another homer. After a K, Brian McCann and Ozzie Albies also launched back-to-back dingers. He escaped, stranding another Bravo on third to leave it at 4-2. Arch walked to start the third; the top of the order went down behind him. Three Braves fanned with a free pass sprinkled in. J-Bell walked to open the fourth and scooted home after a Redbeard double; Folty struck out the rest of the side, with an intentional pass to Jake before fanning Archie, who made up by K'ing two of the three Bravos he faced afterward.

Not another one... - 2019 Topps Heritage

K-Man and Corey D started the sixth with back-to-back raps; a force out by Starling knotted the score. An Atlanta single turned into a pickoff, and made for a quiet frame. The Pirates left Fraze aboard in the sixth against Touki Toussaint. The Bravos got a knock and a walk and another McCann homer; so much for the clawback. K-Man led off with a seventh-inning rap; the next two guys went quietly. AJ Minter came in to face J-Bell and got him on a fly to center. Dovy Neverauskas got the call. A leadoff double, infield rap and force left Bravos at the corners, but a timely K and liner kept the score 7-4. JHK singled, and two outs later Anthony Swarzak replaced Minter to face Bryan Reynolds. Bryan got over yesterday's 0-fer with a triple, but Eli left him aboard as Clint used four pinch hitters in the inning. Kyle Crick took the ball and walked one while fanning a pair. And hey - a ninth inning rain delay. Mmmm...make that a rain out; the game was banged at 12:30 or so, and 7-5 became the official final score.

Well, can't blame the bullpen for this one for a change. One thing to watch for: Swarzak zipped a heater at Eli's noggin in the eighth. Diaz was pretty much Musgrove's bodyguard against Donaldson last night, and if u wanna start something with Big Joe, dusting his boy would be a good way to get his notice...

Notes:

• K-Man had three hits. The only other Buc to reach base twice was J-Bell with a walk and a knock
• Per the Elias Sports Bureau, the last time the Pirates allowed four home runs in one inning was July 8th, 1956, against the New York Giants at the Polo Grounds. Vern Law gave up three and Johnny O'Brien the other.
• Josh Donaldson got a one-game suspension for his part in the Monday brouhaha with Joe Musgrove and company. Big Joe and Clint, both of whom were also ejected, weren't wrist-slapped any harder. Donaldson appealed the suspension. 
• Josh Bell leads the Cubs Anthony Rizzo by over 160,705 votes for the ASG; no other Buc is within sniffing distance of a spot.
• Chris Stratton begins a rehab stint at Indy tonight.
• Indy tweeted "Ke'Bryan Hayes has exited tonight's game in the top of the ninth inning with an undisclosed injury." He was favoring his hand/wrist when he trudged off. Did Moses unleash the plagues on the Pirates?