Pirates Rally Comes Up Short In 6-5 Loss to Redbirds In 10 Innings

With one away, Dexter Fowler doubled off Trevor Williams, with no further damage occurring. Fraze opened with a walk of Daniel Ponce de Leon. An out later, a Starling knock and J-Bell walk loaded the bases. Redbeard looked at strike three and Corey D went down on a two-strike foul tip, all 93-94 MPH four seamers in the zone (Corey's last strike was a heater on the hands; that was the only pitch really well spotted). It's gonna be a long night if you can't hit BP. Willy tossed a clean second and the Pirates did nada. Matt Wieters got a 3-2 fastball to start the third and drove it into the RF seats, just evading the foul pole; Willy has been having long ball woes lately. A single and walk added a little drama but no more runs. Fraze started off with a walk; a comebacker turned two. Starling collected a rap and J-Bell walked. Colin fell behind 0-2, fouled a couple off, took a couple, and then singled home a run on the seventh straight heater he saw. Corey bounced out, but Ponce is at 86 pitches, even with the Pirates showing as much patience as a babe with squishy diapers.

Willy looked back on track tonight - image Pittsburgh Pirates calendar

A walk and single opened the fourth for the Redbirds, leaving runners at the corners after Bryan Reynolds let the ball go through him. That extra base cost as a sac fly gave the Cards the lead again. Michael Wacha took over on the hill. Eli singled and was bunted to second. Fraze drew his third walk of the night with two outs. Reynold's two-bagger chased Diaz home to knot it up. Fowler singled and stole a sack in the fifth, but went no further. The Bucs went down quietly. After an opening K by Michael Feliz, a J-Bell boot was quickly corrected by a 4-3 DP. K-Man singled to lead off and was caught stealing, and the rest of the inning was calm. Frankie Liriano took the seventh for Pittsburgh and Tyler Webb for the Cards; they both went 1-2-3. Ric Rod cruised through the eighth, as did Webb. Kyle Crick got the call for the ninth and punched out a pair in a clean, 13-pitch frame; he looks like he's found the light again. John Brebbia climbed the bump and K'ed Newman and Diaz looking; guys gotta quit umpiring and try staying alive. Melky legged out a rare (for him) infield knock, and Big Joe came in as a runner. Lefty Chasen Shreve took the ball to face Fraze and bopped him. Reynolds may have seen one strike but still fanned. Bonus baseball again.

Clay Holmes got the wave for the 10th; guess Felipe is off after pitching back-to-back games. Too bad - a walk, single, plunked batter and Goldy oppo granny pretty much put the game away. A double and two walks reloaded the sacks with two away, and Luis Escobar was brought in to get the final out. Starling started the Bucs off with a double and J-Bell smacked another. Carlos Martinez took over and was welcomed by a Jung Ho Kang homer to make it interesting. Corey D singled and an error on K-Man's bouncer set the Buccos up for business. Eli tried to bunt the guys up, but instead rolled into a force at third. Of course it cost; Jake singled, but Newman was called out on a bang-bang play at home; the Pirates challenged and lost (the TV clips were mixed). Joey Cora waved him on with the ball fielded in short right, and Jose Martinez made a good throw; our guess is the Pirates book was to run on his arm, and his arm won this battle. Still, with just one out... With the tying run at third, Fraze flew out, ending an exciting but no-cigar rally.

Starling had three more hits - photo Pittsburgh Pirates

Kind of a pity the Pirates batters can't focus better in the early stages of a game lately; Ponce de Leon was begging for a beatdown and the Pittsburgh batters refused to deliver it. Cora's decision can be debated, especially in hindsight, but was made in the heat of battle and was an eyelash from being the right one. Having Eli drop one? He's played five years w/708 PA's and never laid down a successful bunt. Clint was caught with a short pen, partially of his making - Felipe was down because of consecutive outings, but the first appearance of the pair was just to get in some work after a three-day layoff in a 5-1 win. So The Nightmare mopped up then and was unavailable for the now. (Chris Stratton worked two innings/32 pitches last night, so he was likely down, too.) Clay Holmes has given up 11 runs in his last four outings, with his ERA jumping from 4.21 to 6.54 after tonight, but it was him or Luis Escobar in the 10th. Since Escobar finished, Hurdle used all six relievers that were at his disposal. The Keona Kela suspension wasn't exactly well-timed, either. C' est la vie.

Notes:

• Starling had three hits; no other Pirate had more than one. Fraze pumped up his OBP - he had one knock to go with three walks and HBP. J-Bell drew two walks to go with his knock.
• The Pirates suspended Keone Kela for two games for a contract violation, so he was recalled from the IL, but then immediately suspended, hmmm. The team wasn't much help; they said that the announcement would be the extent of their comments.
• Not much of a crowd on a Candlestick Park kinda night - 13,096.
• If you're scratching your head trying to remember who Tyler Webb is, the Pirates took him in 2016 as a Rule 5 pick from the Yankees and returned him during 2017 camp. He's since tossed for the NYY, Padres, Brewers and now Cards.