Deja Vu All Over Again; Pirates Lose Opener 9-7 To Brew Crew

Another inning, another homer; Christian Yelich got the Brewers going with a first inning solo shot off Dario Agrazal. Fraze frew an opening walk off Jordan Lyles, a foe today. With an out, Starling hit into a force and ended the frame on a caught stealing. The Brew Crew drew a walk in the second, with Bryan Reynolds pulling back a Mike Moustakas HR bid. Pittsburgh went down quietly. Milwaukee staged a mild uprising when a walk and knock with two outs in the third left runners on the corners, but Dario got the third out without damage. An Eli walk also led to nada. It fell apart in the fourth. Moustakas led off with a homer, followed by three straight singles, the last poorly played by J-Bell. Lyles' dribbler brought home another run (Redbeard had a couple of plays, but opted for the out at first), a single plated two more, and it was 5-0 before a DP stopped the bleeding. Bryan Reynolds got one back with a leadoff long fly. Dario held the Brewers to a rap in the fifth, while Pablo Reyes popped a two-run, pinch-hit four-bagger in the Buc half. Michael Feliz worked the sixth and stranded a single. Drew Pomeranz took the ball and left Bucs at second and third after a Reynolds rap and Joey O double by whiffing Melky.

Reynolds has been unreal; he's hitting .337 - photo Pittsburgh Pirates

Feliz fanned the side in the seventh, and Matt Albers toed the rubber. He walked Erik Gonzalez for all the Pirates action. Frankie got the eighth, and a Fraze error followed by a couple of singles chased home another run, the last hit a chip shot over the infield. Then came another run-producing knock and in came Geoff Hartlieb. He posted a K, sac fly and bouncer as the score jumped to 8-3. Freddie Peralta grabbed the ball. He gave up two walks and an infield knock with two away, and it cost when K-Man's double sent the trio home. Josh Hader was called on for the four-out save. He fell behind Eli 3-1, then painted the outside corner with three heaters to sit him down. The key to the inning may well have been when Starling's one-out drive was gloved beautifully by Lorenzo Cain, his second nice grab of the evening, preventing what could have been a possible monster frame. If there was any drama left, Yelich ended it by clobbering an 0-2 slider far into the night to open the ninth. Bryan Reynolds doubled with two gone for Pittsburgh and Straling tripled him home on the next pitch. But Hader had enough in the tank to retire J-Bell on a pop to wrap it up.

Lather, rinse, repeat...

Notes:

• Bryan Reynolds had three of the Pirates eight hits. They also drew seven walks.
• The announced attendance was 11,218. 
• The Pirates lead the NL with 32 homers surrendered since the break (23 games) and don't have a starter with an ERA under 4.15 for the season.
• Clay Holmes has been sent to Altoona for rehab, and in better news, Ric Rod is expected to rejoin the club tomorrow.
• Jonah Davis (paywall) was picked as the South Atlantic League Player of the Week, per Pirates Prospects. The Greensboro CF collected 10 hits (four HR) in his last six games. He needed the rally; he's still hitting just .228, but the 22-year-old looks like he's finally getting it.
• Baseball America's  Ben Badler looked at some of the top hitters in the Dominican Summer League; one of them was the Pirates 17-year-old 3B Alexander Mojica. He said that Mojica is "one of the most productive DSL players in terms of pure hitting ability and power production, batting .354/.475/.646 through his first 30 games."
• Jung Ho Kang cleared waivers and the Pirates released him, so he's a FA.