Kevin Newman Walks It Off, Leads B-Team Bucs To Fourth Straight With 6-5 Victory Over the Reds

Not a great start by Steven Brault - a couple of doubles, a walk, stolen base, throwing error, and hey, it's 2-0 before the Bucs get to bat. The Bucs went quietly to Anthony DeSclafani. Brault struck out the side in the second; the Pirates went down 1-2-3. The Reds made no noise in the third. Jake Elmore and Erik Gonzalez led off with raps and were bunted up before K-Man walked to juice the sacks. Per SOP, they left them loaded. The Redlegs walked twice and fanned three times in the fourth. Stalls singled for all the Bucco noise. A walk, two singles and throw to the wrong base gave Cincy a couple of more tallies in the fifth. The Bucs did answer this time; Erik Gonzalez and Steven singled; they both came in on Newman's three-run shot to make it a one-run game at 4-3. Clay Holmes got the sixth and gave up an opening double but kept the scoreboard clean. Kevin Kramer and Stalls opened with raps for the Pirates. That brought in Robert Stephenson. A fly moved KK to third before Gonzalez lined out swinging at a full-count ball four; 2B Jose Peraza tried to double up Stallings at first, threw the ball away, and the game was knotted as two wrongs did make a right.

Kevin was the show tonight - photo Pittsburgh Pirates

Ric Rod got the seventh; the Cincy's drew a walk and nothing else. Michael Lorenzen bopped Fraze with two outs, and after a barrage of throws to first, Fraze was caught stealing. The Reds got two knocks and walk off Frankie Liriano to take the lead in the eighth. A grounder left runners at the corners, but Frankie stopped the bleeding. The Pirates went down without a peep in their half. Yacksel Rios came on for the ninth, and left a couple of free passes aboard. Raisel Iglesias took the ball. Elmore led off with a rap and went to second on a wild pitch. Two outs later, he was at third. K-Man got a 1-1 slider that hung over the middle of the plate and bang - a walk off dinger. The B Team rallies for another win, and you can raise the Roger.

Lotta names for both teams that make you dive deep into the program. Clint is getting a good chance to assess some of the bubble guys, and players like Erik Gonzalez and Jake Elmore are making the most of it. And hey, heck of a way to end Steve Blass' TV career.

Notes:

• Newman (five RBI), Stallings, Elmore and Gonzalez all had two hits. Per Joe Block, Kevin Newman tied Al Oliver (1969) tonight for most walkoff hits (4) for a Pirates rookie, since at least 1920.
• Steven Brault had a career-high 10 strikeouts. The Pirates struck out 16 and walked eight tonight.
• The announced crowd was 18,554 tonight.
• The Blass blast starts: Bill Peduto issued a special Mayoral Proclamation to Steverino today in recognition of his six decades of service to our city.
• The MLB will experiment with robo umps in the Arizona Fall League this year, per CBS Sports.