Opportunity Knocks, Bucs Not Home In 4-3 Loss

Chris Archer tossed a quiet first with a couple of K after a four-pitch, leadoff walk. The Bucs opened with a Fraze knock and Bryan Reynolds walk as Dakota Hudson is having some location issues early. Starling caught a high slider, and boom, it landed in the bullpen to make it 3-0 Buccos in a hurry. Two outs later, Corey D doubled before the fun ended. The Cards answered in the second with back-to-back, one-out doubles to light the board. It was three up, three grounders for the Bucs. A single and Goldy homer tied it up in the third. J-Bell banged a double with two gone and was left on the pond. The Birds got a two-out single and free pass in the fourth, but Arch escaped. The Bucs wasted a K-Man rap. Jose Martinez opened the fifth with a long fly to give St. Louis its first lead. A Fraze single and walks to Reynolds and Starling loaded the bases with nobody out; a J-Bell whiff on three pitches and Redbeard 6-3 DP two tosses later kept the tally board clean *sigh*.

Strats had a good night - photo Charles LeClaire USA Today Sports

Archie stranded a leadoff knock in the sixth, and at 97 pitches, his day should be done. The Pirates went down without a peep. Chris Stratton came on in the seventh and spun a clean frame. Hudson got the first out, then handed the ball to Giovanny Gallegos, who retired the next pair with no sweat. Chris went 1-2-3 again in the eighth, as did Gallegos, who whiffed a pair. Strats stayed on for the ninth and fanned two; it was nine up, nine down for him tonight. Andrew Miller toed the rubber, and three batters later, it was a done deal.

Three runs plated before there was an out, and even with the bases loaded and nobody gone, the Bucs couldn't punch another one in. Yah, J-Bell is in a slump of biblical proportions, and no one other than Starling and Fraze want to pick up the slack. The lack of discipline at the plate, maybe caused by trying too hard to step up, only makes it worse. One more thumper to bat behind Josh wouldn't hurt.

Notes:

• Fraze had two raps, Starling a walk and a knock, and Reynolds drew two free passes. The team only had six hits.
• There were 15,778 at the yard tonight.
• Tonight was the fourth time in six games the Pirates have lost by one run.
• Chris Stratton has a 6.22 ERA overall, but as a Pirate, it's 3.51 (it was 8.59 for the Angels, which used him mainly as a starter). The big diff - he's found his control here, walking one guy per game compared to 5.5 for LAA.
• Chris Archer leads the NL in homers surrendered with 24.
• The Pirates have seven home runs since the ASG; five were swatted by Starling and the other two by JHK.