Bucs Reverse the Tide, Storm Back to Snatch Late 8-6 Victory From Brew Crew

Nice, quiet first frame - a leadoff rap followed by six outs served up by Josh Lindblom and Derek Holland. Dutch Oven walked a guy in the second; no prob, he picked him off. Colin Moran walked and Bryan Reynolds' soft liner dropped to lead off for Pittsburgh, putting Buccos on the corners. Reynolds stole second, but the next trio of Pirates went down swinging. The Brew Crew went quietly in the third; ditto for the Pirates. Holland lost the strike zone a bit in the fourth -  a bopped batter was followed by a DP roller, a walk and wild pitch, but a swingin' K (his fifth whiff) got him out of the inning. With an out, Captain Redbeard and Phil Evans walked around a Bryan Reynolds double to juice the sacks. Guillermo Heredia then notched his first Bucco rap, a two-run single to left. After a whiff, Lindblom left with back cramps, and in came Eric Yardley, who shut the door. Holland cruised through the fifth. J-Bell singled off Brent Suter to create all the Bucco noise. Milwaukee tied it in the sixth when a walk was followed by a Keston Hiura dinger; Chris Stratton came on to get the last out. It was 1-2-3 for the Buccos.

Derek Holland's first Bucco start was strong - photo Pirates

Stratton gave up a pair of free passes to open the seventh and newbie Miguel Del Pozo took the hill, walking another pair on 10 pitches, before giving up a double. After an intentional walk, Geoff Hartlieb was waved in. He got a sac fly DP, Heredia to Phil Evans, as a sixth run scored before he shut it down. The Bucs made run, loading the bases with leadoff singles from Tuck and Murphy, followed by a bopped Fraze. Another walk brought in a run, and then a break - Justin Smoak corralled Redbeard's one-out hopper, and threw it away. That allowed two Pirates to score, and Evans tied it with a two-out double. Corey Knebel took the ball and K'ed pinch hitter El Coffee to end the party. Gottlieb got into immediate problems; he threw away a tapper and then gave up a knock to put Crew on the corners. The outfield came through again; a fly turned into another DP when B-Rey threw a strike to toss out Ryan Braun at home, and a grounder left a zero on the board. Bobby Wahl took over and was greeted by a double to the Notch by Tuck. Two batters later, Fraze lifted one over the fence and the Bucs were back on top. Nick Burdi left the bullpen roost and after an opening walk, he got a punch out and 4-6-3 DP. 

Raise the Roger for Shelty's first home win. Kinda looks like the talent gap getting from the starters and the closers are gonna keep these two teams hoppin'. But it was a nice bounceback win and it's good to see Reynolds, Tuck and Heredia collect hits to go with a Fraze dinger. 

Notes:

• Two guys with zero hits on the season going into today each had two knocks tonight: Bryan Reynolds and Cole Tucker.
• Guillermo Heredia had a nice day in center, making a web gem snag, starting a DP and getting his first Bucco rap to chase home a pair.
• Clay Holmes (forearm strain) and Kyle Crick (lat strain) were both placed in the 10-day IL; that goes a long way toward explaining Shelty's bullpen usage Monday night. RHP Geoff Hartlieb has been recalled and LHP Miguel Del Pozo added to the 30-man roster. Del Pozo is late of the Angels and signed as an NRI in December.