Tigers Chew Up Pirates 11-5

Well, quite the start. Derek Holland tossed 11 pitches, four left the park and it was 5-0 Motown in a New York minute. Dutch Oven dug in and stranded a couple of Tigers to get out of the inning. The Bucs got an infield knock from Kevin Newman against their ol' matey, Ivan Nova. Three pretty well smoked Detroit singles produced another tally in the second. Pittsburgh went down in order. So did the Motor City in the third, although Holland is up to 84 pitches. The Pirates opened with back-to-back raps by Jarrod Dyson and Jake Stallings. Dyson scored on K-Man's two-bagger and Stalls came home on J-Bell's bouncer. El Tigres added a knock in the fourth but didn't dent the board. Nova walked the first pair of Buccos, and a Dyson hit chased home Phil Evans; an off-line throw from the outfield left Pirates on second and third with one away. A wild pitch helped the cause, making it 6-4, before Stalls walked. Newman's two-out, two-strike single made it a one-run ballgame. Both sides went quietly in the fifth as Holland gutted out 112 pitches.

Murph can do it all - 2020 photo Brian Blanco/Getty

In the sixth, Shelty kept Holland in though he was out of fumes; it was an invitation to disaster, and a homer and two doubles later, Nick Mears got his call. He gave up a sac fly as Gregory and Evans crashed into one another chasing a foul pop; Phil left on a cart while Polanco stayed on. That was followed by a walk, knock and walk. After a whiff, Mears walked in another run; he can't get his second pitch, the curve, over the dish. (Note to Stalls - maybe fewer curves?). He got another K to end the frame, but not before the Striped Cats were up 10-5. Ron Gardenhire took note and brought in Jose Cisnero, who surrendered a walk and naught else. Sam Howard picked up a pair of whiffs, then served up a pair of doubles to put up another Detroit point in the seventh. Gregory Soto answered the bell and 1-2-3'ed Pittsburgh. Yacksel Rios was the winner of the eighth inning draft and worked an easy two K, tapper to the mound frame. Redbeard slapped a single to right off Kyle Funkhouser for the Bucco action. John Ryan Murphy took the hill to mop up and tossed a clean frame; goes to show ya never can tell. Funkhouser gave up a couple of knocks to prolong things, but the final remained 11-5.

Sadly, nothing different to report.

Notes:

• Kevin Newman had four hits and is slowly climbing out of his funk; he's up to .250. Jarrod Dyson added a pair of raps as the pair accounted for six of the nine Pirates hits,
• Phil Evans took an elbow to the head when he collided with Gregory Polanco, so a concussion, while not confirmed, looks likely.
• Before the game, the Pirates optioned LHP Miguel Del Pozo (0-0/17.18) to the Altoona B-Team and called up RHP Nick Mears. It's a quick rise for Mears; he spent last year navigating Hi-A, ending with four outings at Altoona and a strong Arizona League stint. He has a plus heater and great K rate (13/nine IP), along with a so-so walk rate of 3.5 per game. Adam Berry of MLB.com has a pretty compelling backstory on Mears and his road to the bigs.
• Keone Kela tossed live BP at PNC today; so far, so good in his recovery program.
• Detroit sent 10 batters to the dish in an inning three times in an eight frame span against the Bucs.