Thames, Stranded Runners Give Series to Brew Crew 4-2

In the first, the Brewers got a two-out knock off Jordan Lyles; that's one more hot than the Bucs got off of Zach Davies. In the second, three straight singles put Jordan in a jam, then came a head scratcher - a bouncer to Colin, who was a step away from third, could have started an around the horn DP or gotten the runner at home; he instead chose to take the out at first. It was yet another mental error by the Bucs in this series, but Lyles escaped down just 1-0. Melky walked for all the Pirates action. In the third, Milwaukee had Ryan Braun on first with two outs. Eric Thames fell behind 0-2, took three that missed the mark badly, then clobbered a 3-2 hook, knee-high and mid-plate, over the Clemente Wall to make it 3-0. Fraze opened with a two-bagger. A roller and sac fly by K-Man got the Bucs on the board. The Brew Crew stranded a fourth inning single. Starling dropped one down to open with a bunt knock and ended up on third when Davies airmailed the throw to first, where he scored on J-Bell's grounder. Jake added a rap that lead nowhere.

Bryan Reynolds just keeps on...Photo Pittsburgh Pirates

Christian Yelich opened the fifth with a double; he became the second out when he tried to TOOTBLAN his way to third on a grounder to short. It didn't help. Up 1-2, Lyles served another curve to Thames, who doubled the run home. Doesn't seem like very good sequencing by Stallings/Lyles, but hey... Lyles was at 97 pitches and still batted; needless the say, there was no Bucco response other than Bryan Reynold's single. Jordan ate the inning well; he tossed a 1-2-3, 12-pitch sixth. J-Bell opened with a two-bagger, and the Bucs got him to third, but close doesn't count. Frankie was tapped for a knock but no bloodshed in the seventh. Joey O reached with an out thx to catcher's interference; he was erased on a DP. Kyle Crick worked the eighth and struck out the side. Reynolds started the Bucs up with a leadoff double; he got to third with an out, but ya know how that ended up by now.

Ric Rod tossed a clean ninth. Alex Claudio came in after Redbeard opened the frame with a double and another catcher's interference (Alex Pina is awfully quick with the ol' mitt, it seems) put Gregory on. Clint opted to play for the tie and had Fraze give up an out with a bunt. He was only half successful; Gregory was forced at second. Corbin Burnes took over as Eli grabbed the lumber and K'ed him on three pitches; two were pretty nasty, nicely placed sliders. K-Man grounded out; he helped by fishing as Burnes worked his way from below Newman's knees to his ankles.

Two curves to Eric Thames that Jordan would like back and an 0-for-12 w/RISP (after four leadoff doubles) by the Buc batters was the recipe for another loss. Pittsburgh gets a day off to lick their wounds, then Atlanta comes to town.

Notes:

• Bryan Reynolds had two hits; Melky also reached base twice with a walk and knock.
• Jordan Lyle's 109 pitches were the most tossed by a Pirates pitcher so far this season.
• BTW, it ended up pretty nice out; the local t-storm watch was cancelled by the fifth inning as the clouds and sun battled it out. There were 19,442 ducats out for the game.
• On his radio show, Neal said the Bucs are going to be cautious in managing Cervy's recovery. He noted that although Fran isn't yet completely symptom free, he's chomping at the bit to return to action as soon as possible. He also applauded the team, saying "Despite all the challenges, despite the struggles, despite the not-great decisions or just flat bad decisions by me...It's fighting."
• The Bucs are 4-10 (2-8 at PNC Park) since returning from their West Coast trip