Chase Away the Moths & Raise the Roger: Bucs Romp 10-2

K-Man and Starling had raps around an out in the first to put Bucs on the corners. J-Bell saw a diet of change ups and singled off the fifth one to give the Bucs the early jump off Jose Suarez. Joey O's DP ball was botched to juice the sacks. Melky bounced to Albert; he skipped a throw home and two runs plated with runners ending up on second and third. After a Pablo grounder, Jake was bopped but a fly left three aboard. Mike Trout walked with an out against Mitch Keller, but no damage came of it. K-Man homered in the second and Starling reached on another boot, but was picked off to end the inning. The Halos got a pair of two-out knocks, one a grounder that went through Gonzalez, but Mitch worked out of it. Melky and Pablo singled with an out in the third and scampered home ahead of Jake's chalk-kissing double to make it 6-0. Keller cruised through the heart of the LA order. Jose Rodriguez took over in the fourth; Starling walked and stole second for the Pirates action. The Angels used back-to-back knocks, a HBP (0-2 back foot slider) and sac fly to get on the board.

Mitch gets #1 - 2019 Bowman Prospects

With two gone in the fifth, Stalls lined one just inside the pole to get the run back. Anaheim started off with a knock and walk; a double play helped the cause, but Pablo's boot at third allowed a two-out score. B-Rey and J-Bell lost balls in the sixth, stretching the pad to 9-2. Chris Stratton took over (Mitch was at 94 tosses) and dished out three grounders. Rodriguez, working his fourth frame, pitched a clean seventh. The Angels got a couple of hits, but thanks to a dandy catch by B-Rey, couldn't dent the scoreboard. Luis Garcia shut down the Bucs in the eighth; Strats gave up a knock to account for all the Angel noise. In the ninth, JC Ramirez gave up two-baggers to Starling and Joey O to make it 10-2. Of course, that called for Felipe Vazquez to make an appearance. He gave up an opening knock before putting it to bed. Dare I say, raise the Roger.

Good to see a game where good pitching and good hitting both happened at once. It makes sense that it would be during interleague play, where the Pirates now stand 11-4.

Notes:

• Starling had three hits; K-Man, J-Bell and Jake (2B, HR & three RBI) had a pair apiece.
• Since being "unplugged"for three days, Josh has gone 7-for-15 with six runs scored, six chased home, two doubles and three homers in four games.
• Today was Mitch Keller's first MLB win; here's to many more...
• Voting run by the website Awful Announcing selected the Pirates TV crew as the next-to-awfulest in baseball.