The Bucs had a little excitement in the first against Brett Anderson and even scored a run. Erik Gonzalez and Tuck opened with raps to occupy the corners, then the ado - Kevin Newman's grounder got Gonzo tossed out at home, tho he did duck-and-shuck long enough to get Cole to third. Tucker scored from there on J-Bell's sac fly. It was tied up pretty quickly, when Christian Yelich went deep (very deep; 460') off JT Brubaker. Fraze singled in the second, and with two away, JT Riddle doubled him to third; they both died in place when Gonzo fanned. A double, single and walk with one gone set up the Brew Crew. A force at home got Bru an out away from escaping, but a 3-2 walk forced a run home. That brought up Yelich, but B-Rey pulled in his liner to keep it 2-1. Tuck singled to open the third, and Stall's two-out two-bagger knotted the score. The Brewers drew a walk but no blood. The Bucs went down in order in the fourth, and ditto for Milwaukee.
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| J-Bell looks like he's snapping out of it - 2020 Topps Heritage |
The Pirates made some noise in the fifth. Gonzo tripled and scored on Newman's sac fly, then J-Bell went boom to put Pittsburgh up by a pair. JT stayed in the groove and struck out the side. Fraze singled to start the sixth, bringing on Freddy Peralta who closed it down. Sam Howard took the ball and tossed a clean frame. It was Eric Yardley's turn for the Brewers in the seventh. He walked a pair and gave up a rap, but a well-timed DP for the Crew keep the scoreboard clean. That hurt when Chris Stratton climbed the mound and gave up a leadoff bomb to Orlando Arcia to tighten it up. Alex Claudio got the eighth inning call, and he allowed a walk and nothing else. Nik Turley gave up a leadoff double and bopped the next batter. He was a strike away from wiggling out, but Avasail Garcia doubled on a two-out, 1-2 heater to chase both Brewers home on a looper that landed on the left field chalk.
Josh Hader toed the slab, walking two of the first three Bucs before a passed ball moved them into scoring position. J-Bell worked another free pass to juice the sacks. Then Stalls walked as did Fraze, and the Bucs were back in the lead, bringing on Devin Williams. In a big at bat, he fell behind B-Rey 3-0, but came back to run the count full (strike one was the traditional 3-0 gimme) and got him to roll into a force at the dish. Gregory pinch hit, and per his MO this season, smoked a liner to right that found leather. Ric Rod came on, and yep, walked the first batter. Then Eric Sogard took a 2-1 fastball yard (yah, guys do hunt heaters when they're ahead in the count), and the Brew Crew won the battle of the backends by default.
Oh well, another reason to drink...wait, the bars aren't open yet? Geez, between the Bucs and bugs...
Notes:
- Gonzo, Tuck, J-Bell and Fraze each had a pair of hits.
- Six runs isn't a bad night's work, especially considering the Bucs stranded 11 runners and were 1-for-12 with RISP.
- At the halfway point of the season, Jake Stallings has as many RBI as Josh Bell with 12. Raise your hand if you had Eric Gonzalez (13) with the team lead 30 games into the season.
- Josh Hader had made 10 outings lasting 9-2/3 IP. He's given up no hits, but two runs (tonight's) on 10 walks.
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