Phils Drop the Ball, Bucs Take Late 5-4 Decision

Drew Smyly had a tough start; K-Man tripled, B-Rey homered and Starling doubled to open the game. He settled in after that, but the Bucs were off to a quick 2-0 edge. Steven Brault tossed a clean frame. Eli opened the second with a knock for all the Bucco noise. The ol' mateys gave Steven problems as Corey D doubled and S-Rod got plunked. Of course it hurt when the eight hitter knocked in a run with two away and stole second, but Smyly rolled out weakly to end it. J-Bell singled in the third for the lone Bucco runner. Steven continued to struggle; an opening hit was erased on a DP, but a knock, walk and a Dickerson rap tied it. Pittsburgh went in order in the fourth and the ex-Bucco curse continued - S-Rod doubled and scored on Andrew Hasely's single, the eight-hole guy's second RBI, with Steven spearing Bryce Harper's bullet shot at him to end the frame. With two gone in the fifth, Reynolds singled and Marte doubled, but J-Bell couldn't get them home. The Phils went down quietly.

Colin's 13th HR was a key blow tonight - image Pittsburgh Pirates

The Bucs regained the lead in the sixth when Joey O singled and Redbeard pounded one into the night to put the Pirates up 4-3. Two outs later, Blake Parker was given the ball and was greeted by a Pablo rap. He was nabbed stealing; why they run against JT Realmuto is beyond us. Kyle Crick was ushered in and gave up a two-out solo dinger to Logan Morrison. Ranger Suarez tossed a clean seventh. Keona Kela gave up a leadoff two-bagger to Realmuto but shut down the meat of the order. Jared Hughes came on with an out in the eighth; he gave up a walk and then coaxed a DP from Colin. Frankie Liriano got the call and was tagged for an opening double. He got two routine outs and Felipe was next up, posting a strikeout to send it into the ninth. Hector Norris walked Fraze and Melky with one gone. K-Man hit an apparent DP ball, but 1B Rhys Hoskins dropped the relay, allowing a heads up, hustling Fraze to plate. B-Rey singled before it finished. The Nightmare faced Hoskins, Realmuto and Harper, and Felipe won,capping it with a swinging K. Raise the Roger.

The Bucs have won 4-of-5, and three have been by one run. Maybe they're finally getting in sync. One thing to notice - the pitching has been a little better; that may have something to do with the defense being fairly solid this week.

Notes:

• B-Rey had three raps and Starling a pair while Joey O had a walk and a knock.
• Kyle Crick has given up nine homers in his last 27-2/3 innings. He's also walked 23 hitters with 37 punchouts; lotta three-true-outcome results for him.
• Philly scored five of its six runs with two outs last night; they scored three of its four tallies tonight with two away.
• S-Rod was booed when his named was announced in the starting lineup, despite busting out of a 1-for-21 slump with the game-winning homer last night, after he chastised the Philly boobirds following his walk off. The crowd even cheered when he was HBP early in the game. Tough crowd.