Took A Little Longer Than Usual, But Same Results: Bucs Swept By Redbirds 11-9

Fraze singled and B-Rey doubled to open against Miles Mikolas. The Starling hit a not very deep fly to center; Joey Cora sent Fraze and he was gunned at home. But all wasn't lost as J-Bell finally rediscovered his long ball touch and made it 2-0 with a shot into right. The pad didn't last long. Steven walked a Redbird with an out, the Goldy launched a longball into center to tie it up. Redbeard led off the second with a double and was left aboard; the Redbirds didn't chirp. B-Rey doubled with one away in the third, then Starling was bopped. J-Bell singled in a run and Marte scooted to third on an outfield bobble; Melky's right-side bouncer scored him. The Cards got a Tommy Edman bunt single; he got to third after a steal and Eli misthrow, then scored on Goldy's two-out rap. Steven apparently  hasn't gotten the shut-down inning memo yet. It was a 1-2-3 Bucco fourth. The Cards turned a leadoff walk into a run on Lane Thomas' two-out triple to knot the score. Reynold's walked with one gone in the fifth, and with two away, J-Bell parked a 3-2 slider into the seats; welcome back, Josh.

Michael Feliz has been a machine - photo Pittsburgh Pirates

Despite two walks and two wild pitches, another St. Louis TOOTBLAN (unforced runner at second thrown out at third on a grounder to short), allowed Brault, with help from Michael Feliz, to put up a zero. Junior Fernandez gave up knocks to Redbeard and Gonzalez around a K in the sixth, leaving Bucs on the corners. Go-Z stole second and it paid off with two outs when Fraze's quail off Tyler Webb dropped in to plate the pair, making it 8-4. Adam then managed to get himself picked off, but at least the damage was already done. The first Card chased a two-strike slider that was a foot outside; tapping it for an infield knock, followed by another single. Michael tightened up and left them aboard. John Gant took the hill for the seventh. B-Rey singled, Starling hit into a DP and a fly made it a calm frame. Kyle Crick came on and gave up back-to-back knocks (the first was a catchable pop that fell between Pablo and Gonzalez; all this switching of positions makes every ball an adventure) with an out. With two gone, Kyle hit consecutive batters to force in a run, and then a grand salami to Thomas (no, not a clue why he was still pitching at this point). Guess what - the Bucs are losing now, 9-8. Chris Stratton then got the call and got the third out.

Redbeard had three raps - photo Pittsburgh Pirates

John Brebbia gave up a knock to Redbeard in the eighth but allowed no scoreboard action. Geoff Hartlieb took the ball and gave up a single and homer to Dexter Fowler. Then came a couple of more raps and Clay Holmes. He walked a guy after an out, then buckled down to whiff his way back to the dugout. Andrew Miller took the bump for the final frame and served up a leadoff dinger to Pablo. But be still my heart; the next three Buccos went down in order.

Believe it or not, it should have been worse; the Cards were 2-of-12 with RISP, stranded nine runners and ran the basepaths like they were a bumper car track. We can't imagine that Clint and Uncle Ray are gonna get to ride this trainwreck much longer; not sure how secure the FO is, but more than the uniformed custodians, we're sure.

Notes:

• B-Rey, J-Bell and Redbeard had three hits each; Fraze had a pair of knocks.
• J-Bell's second dinger gave him 92 RBI, breaking his personal best of 90 set in 2017.
• Goldy has 26 homers; seven are against the Pirates. Six of those have come in the last eight games between the two clubs.
• The game took 3:40 to play.
• The Bucs are off to Cali to meet the Angels; be nice to see Mike Trout, even if on TV.
• Can't fool NH. He said on his Sunday radio show that "we recognize that changes are needed."