Bucs Reel In Fish 5-2

Good start for the Bucs; Gregory opened the game with a double off Tom Koehler. Not so good after that,with a pop out and pair of whiffs. After Jay Happ picked up a pair of routine outs, a hard single was followed by a soft one, but a whiff of Marcell Ozuna ended that. The Bucs hit the ball hard in the second, but found no grass. Old bud Casey McGehee singled to lead off, but a fly to Cutch and a couple of punch outs kept him at first.

The Pirates used some two out lightning in the third. Jordy lined out and Jay K'ed. back-to-back singles by Gregory and Starling set up Cutch, who doubled the opposite way for a 2-0 lead. A grounder, walk and 4-6-3 DP tucked the Fish away.

The Kid and Fran walked on nine pitches to start the fourth, but the bottom three hitters couldn't take advantage. Jay tossed a 1-2-3 frame. The Pirates set up shop with a Gregory double, Starling walk and Cutch single, but JHK hit into a 5-2-3 DP, with Martin Prado making a very nice play of yet another hard hit ball The Kid walked to load 'em again, but Fran popped out on the first pitch; not much plate discipline there. With two gone, Koehler rapped a 1-2 heater off the plate to first and off Pedro's mitt for an infield knock, but Jay got Dee Gordon on a bouncer.

Jordy singled with one gone in the sixth and was bunted up, but El Coffee flew out deep to center to strand him. The Fish went down in order; we'll see if Jay gets another frame while at 94 pitches.

JA Happ was tough again (photo Frank Franklin/AP)

Brian Ellington replaced Koehler on the bump, and drilled Starling in the ribs on the first pitch, a 97 MPH fastball. The Duke almost plunked Cutch high with his next delivery; it got to the backstop, moving Marte to second. Cutch crushed the next pitch, but this is a big park and held it in just shy of the 418' mark (the ball went 416'). It moved Marte to third, and after JHK walked, The Kid's sac fly chased in a run. Jared Hughes took the ball and Marcell Ozuna greeted him with a double. A grounder moved him to third, and another one plated him.

Erik Cordier came in for the eighth. Sean got plunked after a tight first pitch, Cordier was ejected, and the Marlins stormed plate ump Jeff Kellogg, who apparently saw enough last inning. After they settled down, Scott McGough came in. Jordy hit a roller to first and was rung up; the Bucs challenged and he was still out; maybe if his knee was 100%, he'd have beat the rap. An out later, Gregory's fourth hit brought Sean home. Tony Watson came in and gave up a leadoff single. Two outs later, the Fish got another hit, but Tony wriggled out unscathed.

Old Bucco Bryan Morris climbed the mound. He walked the bases loaded with two down, then lost Jordy on four pitches (two were borderline). That brought in Mike Dunn to face Josh, who grounded out to short. Antonio Bastardo jogged in and gave up a first pitch single to Ozuna. After taking a close two strike pitch, McGehee singled to right to put Fish on the corners, and Clint waved in the Shark. He traded a run for a DP...maybe. The bang-bang call at first was challenged and overturned. No biggie; the next grounder was a DP, and the Bucs had a 5-2 win. Jay claimed his second Bucco win and Mark his 40th save.

Coulda been a bigger win; maybe some of those loud outs will find grass in the remaining three games. It'd be nice to give the pen a blow. But hey, 27 games over .500 is the Bucs high water mark and best spread since 1992. Charlie Morton takes on Brad hand tomorrow.

• Gregory Polanco had a season high four hits tonight. His only out was hit on the nose. Cutch added a pair of knocks.
• Mark Melancon's 40 saves lead the majors.
• Tonight was Cutch's 1,000th game in the majors. Been a pretty good run so far.
• Jay Happ has been averaging a whiff per inning (22K:21-2/3IP) as a Bucco.
• Jared Hughes has had a tough month. He's been touched for 14 hits in 9-1/3 IP since July 31st, and charged with five earned runs.
• The Marlins' Scott McGough went to Plum High, and was actually drafted out of HS by the Bucs. He opted to go to Oregon.

Jay v Tom Koehler; Lineup & Notes

Today's Game - JA Happ (5-7. 4.42) opens against Tom Koehler (8-11, 4.02) in Miami. The Pirates swept a three-game series in Pittsburgh in May, giving them five straight wins in the series and 10 of the last 12. Miami has little home field advantage with a record of 4-10 in their last 14 home games.

In three starts for the Buccos, Jay has gone 1-1 with a 2.87 ERA and is hoping to keep the good times rolling against the Fish. He hurled six scoreless Wednesday v Arizona to win his first game as a Pirates. Jay has surrendered just one run in his last two starts after being roughed up his Pirate debut. he hasn't faced Miami since 2012, and is 2-2 with a 4.54 ERA in nine career games (six starts) against them.

Jay gets the call (photo Archie Carpenter/United Press Int.)

Koehler is 0-5 with a 7.58 ERA over his past five starts and was roughed up by the Brewers in his last outing, a trend the Bucs hope to continue. Pittsburgh beat him 7-3 in 2014, and he's 0-3 with a 6.75 ERA lifetime against the Pirates. The game starts at 7:10 and will be aired by Root Sports and 93.7 The Fan.

This is the start of a quick four-game set with the Fish; the Bucs come home to face the Rox afterward. Then it's a 16 game stretch against the Central Division, a West Coast trip and back to close out the regular season against the Cubs and Cards. Yep, that's all that's left of the campaign.

Today's Lineup - Gregory Polanco RF, Starling Marte LF, Cutch CF, Jung-Ho Kang 3B, Neil Walker 2B, Fran Cervelli C, Pedro Alvarez 1B, Jordy Mercer SS, Happ P.

Interesting line up, with Jordy making his first start and Pedro hitting out of the seven hole. Still, pretty deep, especially if Jordy can get up to June's speed.

• With a win tonight, Pittsburgh (74-48) will be 27 games over .500 for the first time since 1992.
• Arquimedes Caminero has been unscored on in 12 consecutive outings covering 16 IP.
• Recently acquired 1B Michael Morse started the season as a Miami Marlin until his July trade to the Dodgers and quick flip to the Pirates..
• Ken Rosenthal of Fox Sports has a notes column today; one piece of local interest is on how the Bucs handled Jung-Ho Kang's transition to American hardball. 
• And Christina Kahrl of ESPN has an article about the ways the Buccos go about beating you.

8/24: HBD Jewels; 10 In-A-Row; Gott To Have Faith; Friend's 12-Hit Shutout

• 1889 - IF Jewel Ens was born in St. Louis. He played for the Pirates from 1922-25, hitting .290 as a seldom used bench player. Jewel came back to manage the club from 1929-31, and put up an overall 176-167 slate, finishing second once.

Jewel Ens, cover boy for June, 1925's Baseball Magazine

• 1928 - The Pirates romped over the NY Giants 16-5 at Forbes Field. The middle of the Pittsburgh order - Paul Waner, George Grantham and Pie Traynor - pounded out seven hits, including a homer and three triples, drove in 11 runs and scored six more. Every Pirate position player had at least two hits as the Bucs banged out 19 knocks.
• 1956 - The Cards defeated the Pirates‚ 6-2 at Busch Stadium in a game notable for its batting order. Manager Bobby Bragan batted the pitcher seventh, Maz eighth and Hank Foiles ninth. Mazeroski went 1-for-3 while Foiles hit a HR. The pitcher, Fred Waters, went 0-for-3.
• 1959 - Bob Friend gave up 12 hits‚ but shut out SF‚ 6-0. He struck out eight and stranded a dozen G-Men at Forbes Field, backed by a pair of Rocky Nelson homers.
• 1965 - The Pirates defeated the SF Giants 5-2 at Forbes Field behind Don Cardwell’s five hitter. It was a nondescript win except for Willie Mays, who according to Les Biederman of the Pittsburgh Press “...made an almost unbelievable throw...Mays took Donn Clendenon’s shot off the wall in left center (at the 406’ mark) and threw a strike to home plate on one bounce as the startled (Willie) Stargell was out by 15 feet.” Bob Stevens of the San Francisco Chronicle called it “...the greatest throw ever made in ancient Forbes Field.”

Don Cardwell 1963 Topps series

• 1978 - The Pirates won their 10th game in a row by dropping the Braves 5-1 at Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium. Bert Blyleven not only pitched his way to victory, but his two-out, bases loaded double in the seventh cleared the sacks to break a 0-0 tie. Pittsburgh dropped the next two games, then started a fresh 11 game winning streak.
• 1984 - Jose DeLeon went into the seventh against the Reds pitching a no-hitter, but lost it and the game when ex-Buc Dave Parker singled in a run to give Cincy the lead and eventual 2-0 win at TRS behind a three-hitter by Jeff Russell. Parker had the only Red hit; Cincy scored thanks to a walk and two errors.
• 1987 - Peter Gammon wrote in Sports Illustrated that GM Syd Thrift called a team meeting for his young and underachieving Pirate club (53-71) and asked the team to set goals. Reliever Jim Gott suggested aiming for 25 wins in the final 38 games. “Be realistic,” Thrift replied. It ended up that Gott was indeed a bit unrealistic - the team won 27 down the stretch, starting a seven game winning streak that night with a 5-4 win over the Reds. Gott earned the save.

Jim Gott 1995 Fleer series

• 1989 - The Pirates dropped the Houston Astros 3-2 in 14 frames at TRS. Doug Drabek tossed a nine-inning two hitter, but gave up two unearned runs on three Bucco errors. Doug Bair got the win when Jose Lind’s sac fly brought home Gary Redus.
• 2007 - The Pirates’ Xavier Nady hit a two out homer to tie the game in the ninth and then the Bucs erupted for five 15th inning runs to take an 8-3 victory from the Astros at Minute Maid Park. Adam LaRoche’s three run shot in the 15th off Travis Driskill was the big blow. Shane Youman picked up the win after two innings of scoreless relief with four K against Houston. Six Pirate relievers tossed eight shutout frames, giving up just six hits and striking out eight

Bucs Give Some, Take More In 5-2 Win Over Giants

Calm enough first for Frankie, tho he did give up a Matt Duffy single and line out, there was no threat in the air. Gregory opened for the Bucs with a knock off Ryan Vogelsong. A force, single and walk set up shop for JHK; he walked, too, chasing in Starling. V-Song fed The Kid a diet of hooks; Neil found one he liked and lined it into right to plate Cutch. Pedro banged a sac fly and A-Ram tagged home before Fran's bouncer ended the frame at 3-0.

Ah, Frankie - he walked Andrew Susac to start the second. But it got better as Brandon Crawford bounced an 0-2 slider into a 4-6-3 DP. Good thing, as Kelby Tomlinson followed with a knock and Gregor Blanco walked (Tony Randazzo's strike zone is quite tight so far). A passed ball put G-Men at second and third, and then Vogelsong walked. Nori Aoki swung at the first pitch and hit it well, but right at The Kid to end the frame with another zero.

After Frankie flew out, Gregory ripped a triple to right, with a nifty slide-by to beat the tag at third. Marte and Cutch couldn't cash him in, an opportunity wasted. Duffy opened the third with a knock, but Frankie shut the door after that. Jung-Ho singled with an out followed by a walk. With two gone, Fran loaded 'em with an infield single, but Francisco whiffed, seeing a boatload of curves. Lotta ducks left on the pond for both sides already tonight.

With two gone in the fourth, Blanco singled. Frankie went 3-0 on Vogelsong, but came back to get him on a 3-2 grounder. Starling singled with an out and stole second; with an open base, Cutch walked. Yusmeiro Petit got the call after that; Vogelsong was done for the night. A-Ram popped out and JHK whiffed chasing a curve; the Bucs refuse to add on again. In fact, the two teams have combined to strand 12 runners already.

Jordy's back (photo Justin Aller/Getty)

With one gone in the fifth, Duffy worked Frankie for a single after an eight pitch battle. Then a catchable pop fly dropped between Pedro and Walker, compounded by bad throw by Neil to second for the force to put runners on the corners (it was ruled a fielders choice/E4). Marlon Byrd hit a tester to third; A-Ram' made the short hop play but his throw was dropped by Pedro. Quite the inning so far; should be three outs, but... Frankie closed it out with a K and a comebacker. Fran singled with two away to turn the order over.

With an out, Blanco reached on El Toro's error; it's another bad night for the Bull. It became worse when pinch hitter Juan Perez singled Blanco to third. Aoki rolled a 1-2 fastball the other way into left to make it 3-2. Frankie was done; he struggled tonight, with no help behind him. Arquimedes Caminero took over and got a quick DP to stop the bleeding. Or not; the Giants challenged the close play at first, but it was upheld. Lefty Jeremy Affeldt toed the rubber. he K'ed Gregory, got a hard out on a liner by Starling, then gave up a harder ball when Cutch took him yard with a drive into the batter's eye to add an insurance tally.

Joakim Soria came in; Jordy moved to short, JHK to third and A-Ram took a seat. He faced the middle of the order in the seventh. He got Buster Posey and Marlon Byrd to ground out to Jordy, then lost .231 hitter Susac. Brandon Crawford banged a 3-2 cutter on the hop over the wall for a ground rule double. That saved a run after Brandon Belt grabbed a stick and lifted a hung curve to Cutch.

Another Giant southpaw, Josh Osich, climbed the hill. JHK reached on a misfire from Crawford, but the call was reversed after an ump's review, tho on TV it didn't appear the 1B was in contact with the bag. An out later, Pedro made amends for his glove work by pounding a belt high cutter over the fence in left center, off a lefty yet.

Tony Watson answered the phone for the eighth with a 5-2 lead and S-Rod went to first. It was a 1-2-3 inning, capped by a nice play by JHK to deny Aoki's bunt. In came Hunter Strickland, who gave up a two-out single to Starling. That made it Shark time, and it was easy as 1-2-3 for his 39th save.

The Bucs always keep it interesting, but their new-found prowess as an offensive machine makes up for a lot of mistakes. And they just blew away all comers in a stretch of games against all the NL big boys - Cards, Cubs, Dodgers, Giants, Mets, with a dash of Snakes, finishing 13-5. Also good to see Jordy back; in three innings, he had three assists, one very nicely played, and an out. That left side in the late innings with Jung-Ho & Jordy is money.

• Gregory, Starling, Cutch and Fran had a pair of knocks each tonight.
• Starling Marte extended his hitting streak to eight games tonight. He also became the only player this season with 15 home runs and 25 stolen bases.
• Pedro committed his 17th & 18th error of the year of the season, the most by a 1B since Ryan Howard had 19 in 2008.
• Mark Melancon has been in 60 games. He has 39 saves, three wins and a hold. Tony Watson has been in 57 games. He has 31 holds, two wins and a save. Pretty good stuff by the boys.
• Jordy was, as expected, recalled from rehab today. Travis Ishikawa was placed on the 15-day DL with a lower back sprain (funny about that timing, lol) and so will be back for the September run.
• Travis Snider went 3-for-5 with a two run dinger at Indy today.
• RHP Josh Wall cleared waivers and was assigned to Indy.
• Cubs and Cards won today, ho hum. You'd have to imagine their fans are just as exasperated as ours looking at the scoreboard this month.

Frankie v Ryan Vogelsong on ESPN; Lineup & Notes

Today's Game - Francisco Liriano (8-6, 3.35) concludes the series, facing off against Ryan Vogelsong (9-8, 3.93). Frankie, despite a rough August, has gone 7-2 with a 2.95 ERA and 102 strikeouts in his last 15 starts covering 94-2/3 IP, and been hitting the ball a ton lately, too. Liriano is going after his fifth consecutive win, and the team has won the last nine outings he's started. He's 3-1 with a 3.75 ERA in four career starts v the Giants, with a 5-2 win over Tim Hudson earlier in the year.

Vogelsong had been relegated to the pen, but his three starts during Mike Leake's DL stint (2-1, 2.40) got him back in good graces. He bumped Chris Heston, who was originally slated to go during this series but instead was optioned back to the minors. Vogelsong dropped a 4-3 decision to the Bucs in June, and is 2-4/3.55 against his old teammates lifetime. The game starts at 8:05 and will be on ESPN and 93.7 The Fan.

Pretty strong lineup against the G-Men as the Bucs look to take the series tonight on national TV. Josh is taking a seat and no word on Jordy yet.

• Starling has a seven game hitting streak going into tonight.
• August has proven the Pirate mettle this year and is a great harbinger for the future. This is the first season that Clint has the Bucs above .500 (13-6 with eight contests remaining) during games played during this month, a good indicator that the club is finally deep enough to survive the summertime grind thru rest & replacement.
• You think the Bucs are a bit frustrated? How about the Cubs, a club that's gone 15-4 in August yet picked up just two games on Pittsburgh and four on the Cards?
• The first three games between the Pirates and Giants have drawn 112,622 fans and could establish a new record today. The PNC Park high water mark for a four-game series is 150,819, set last June 26-29th for the New York Mets.
• The wounded puppies continue to mend; AJ fired a couple of dozen fastballs off the mound yesterday, the first time he's worked off the mound since his arm injury.

8/23: Roberto's Back-to-Back 5 Hit Days; Howie's No-No; Clarkes Rifleman Day; Bucs Beat Drysdale Twice In One Day

• 1907 - Howie Camnitz threw a five inning no-hitter with four walks against Mike Lynch and the New York Giants at the Polo Grounds. The game was the nitecap of a doubleheader. After the first match went extra innings (the Pirates won 4-2 in 10 frames behind Sam Leever and Honus Wagner’s three hits), the teams agreed to a shortened second game. Pittsburgh won 1-0. 

Howie Camnitz 1909 American Tobacco series

• 1910 - Despite manager and LF’er Fred Clarke’s four assists from the outfield, the Bucs fell 6-2 to the Philadelphia Phillies at Forbes Field. Clarke’s four toss-outs - one at home, another at third, and two more at second - set an individual NL record. He also made a neat running catch in the eighth inning to take away extra bases from John Titus. Chief Wilson added another assist from RF, and the team total of five for a game tied a NL mark. 
• 1959 - The Pirates swept a doubleheader from the Dodgers‚ beating Don Drysdale in both games. As a starter‚ Drysdale lost the opener 9-2, lasting 2-2/3 innings‚ then relieved in the nitecap, taking a 4-3 loss in the 10th. ElRoy Face won his 16th of the year without a loss in the second game, equaling Cal Hubbell's (1936) and Ewell Blackwell's (1947) record streaks. 
• 1970 - Roberto Clemente had his second straight five-hit game against Los Angeles, the first major leaguer this century to collect 10 hits in consecutive games. Clemente banged a homer, double, three RBI and scored four runs in the 11-0 win at Dodger Stadium. Bill Mazeroski added four hits while Freddy Patek, Matty Alou and Manny Sanguillen each had three knocks. Steve Blass cruised to the victory, tossing a complete game four hitter with eight whiffs. 
• 2001 - The Pirates defeated the Diamondbacks 5-1 despite a 16 strikeout performance by Randy Johnson, who became the first pitcher in history to fan 300 batters in four straight seasons. The big blows off the Big Unit were a two-run homer by Kevin Young and two-run pinch hit double by Keith Osik, both in the seventh.

Kevin Young 1998 Circa Thunder series

• 2014 - The Pirates 4-5-6 hitters (Neil Walker, Russ Martin & Pedro Alvarez) went 7-for-11 with three walks, two doubles, three homers, six runs scored and 10 RBI to help rough up the Milwaukee Brewers 10-2 at Miller Park. Alvarez hit a pair of opposite field homers after a six week long ball drought, one of them coming back-to-back following Martin’s blast into the bullpen. Edinson Volquez got the win with clutch pitching - he gave up 11 hits in 5-⅔ IP, but stranded runners at second and third with no outs and later in the game worked out of a one-out, bases loaded jam with Ryan Braun up & Aramis Ramirez on deck, getting an infield pop and swinging K.

Cole, Kang & Marte Partay Down For 3-2 Win Over G-Men

First inning went as advertised: Gerrit Cole gave up a two-out walk and Mike Leake tossed a clean frame with a couple of whiffs. There was nada for either side in the second (altho Starling pulled back a HR ball hit by Brandon Crawford at the 383' sign in LC) nor the third. Buster Posey singled in the fourth with two outs and Cutch walked, also with two down, and was quickly caught stealing, so neither side got a guy to second.

The Bucs gave away a run in the fifth. A one out walk to Gregor Blanco turned into a triple shortly thereafter when he stole a base and went to third on a poor throw by Stew; he scored on Ehire Adrianza's broken bat bloop single. Pittsburgh came right back; JHK led the inning off with a liner that cleared the CF wall (est 435') to tie the score.

Matt Duffy opened the sixth with a single and stole second. An out later, he made it to third when JHK's try to cut off the lead guy misfired; he had Duffy dead, but couldn't finish with an straight toss. That put G-Men on the corners. There they stayed as Cole Train punched out Marlon Byrd and Crawford. 8-9-1 for the Pirates went down 1-2-3.

Gerrit was every inch an ace today (photo Charles LeClaire/USA Today)

Blanco walked to open the seventh, with Gerrit now at 104 pitches. A wild pitch that Stew usually blocks moved him to second and he was bunted to third. In kind of a poser, Leake - who is a good hitting pitcher - was lifted after just 77 pitches and one hit. It almost worked - Kelby Tomlinson hit the ball on the nose, but right at The Kid. Nori Aoki grounded out, and Cole left the hill king of PNC, with the sellout crowd on their feet and roaring.

Hunter Strickland took over, and Starling greeted him with a two-bagger. An out later, the Bucs tripped over their own two feet again; Marte was picked off breaking to third. But this JHK's world today; he drilled a fastball into the bullpen some 425' away to make it 2-1.

Joakim Soria took over in the eighth and walked Matt Duffy on five pitches, sheesh. Brandon Belt followed with an infield single. Joakim got Buster Posey to roll one to JHK to start a 6-4-3 DP, but hold the elation; a wild pitch brought in the tying run (looked like a case of crossed signals) making both scores gifts - and both on walks. George Kontos took the hill against the 6-7-8 turn of the order and sat them down.

Mark the Shark worked a quick, six-pitch ninth, and Michael Morse hit for him to open the Bucco half. He went down looking and Gregory went down swinging. Not so for Starling; he ripped the first pitch out of the yard, and bingo - the Bucs had walk off win as the Marte partay fist-pumped its way around the bases.

It'd be nice if the Bucs wouldn't walk guys, if Gerrit would hold runners, or would just play sound defense. On the other hand, if you're gonna get just four hits, it's even nicer that three go yard. As Chuck Noll used to say "Whatever it takes." The Bucs go for the series clincher on national TV tomorrow night with Frankie Liriano taking on Ryan Vogelsong.

• JHK joined Hee-Seop Choi and Shin-Soo Choo as the only South Korean-born players with a multi-HR game. He also became the first Bucco this year with a pair of 425'+ homers in the same game per @ESPNStatsInfo.
• Jung-Ho and Starling each had two hits, with three homers and a double between them. The only other Pirate to reach base was Cutch, who walked.
• The Pirate relievers won their 18th straight decision in bullpen-v-bullpen matchups, closing in on a record of 22 set by - who else? - the 1909 Buccos. It's a long tradition.
• Today's attendance of 38,259 was the 21st sellout of the season.
• Jordy went 1-for-4 in the Indy Indians 6-0 win this afternoon. Another couple of guys in the Bucs' future did OK, too - Tyler Glasnow went 6-1/3 IP, giving up four hits, two walks and whiffing nine, while Alen Hanson went 2-for-4.

Cole Train v Mike Leake; Lineup & Notes

Today's Game - Gerrit Cole (14-7, 2.61) takes on Mike Leake (9-6, 3.52) in the third game of the set. Cole Train has lost his last three decisions since his last win in July; the Cubs' Jake Arrieta has passed him up in the victory column with 15. Cole has a win over the G-Men this year, having defeated Ryan Vogelsong, and is 3-0 with a 2.11 ERA in three career starts.

Leake is a recent pick up for SF, coming over from Cincinnati. Since July, his ERA has been a tiny 1.49 and his trademark sinker has produced a 52% groundball rate during the year. The Bucco edge may be some rust; he's only tossed once for the Bay club, having been on the DL with a hammy tweak since 8/2. But he's 3-0 against Pittsburgh this year as a Red, and is 8-3/3.07 in 23 career starts v the Pirates. The game starts at 4:05 and will be aired by Fox Sports 1, Root Sports and 93.7 The Fan.

Josh is back in the lineup today (photo Dave Arrigo/Pirates)

Today's Lineup - Gregory Polanco RF, Starling Marte LF, Cutch CF, Jung-Ho Kang SS, Neil Walker 2B, Josh Harrison 3B, Pedro 1B, Stew C, Cole P.

Well, that didn't last long; Stew is back to catching for Gerrit. Josh is back in the lineup, too; as Cole is somewhat surprisingly a 50% ground ball guy. Josh also hits .273 against Leake with a .788 OPS; A-Ram just .167 with a .405 OPS.

• The bullpen has been tested often lately and answered the bell in style. The relievers have posted a 1.04 ERA and 42 strikeouts over the last 11 games, working 43-1/3 IP.
• Jordy is scheduled to make one more Indy rehab start (noon game); he should rejoin the club tomorrow if all goes according to plan. 
• Even wonder about the faces of a team, as in Yadier Molina, Joey Votto and company having been around forever? Here's the list of the longest tenured players on their original team; we'd guess everyone knows the Bucco lifers are Cutch and The Kid.
• DH? Mad Bum became the first pitcher to belt five homers in a season since Carlos Zambrano had six in 2006. Bumgarner went deep in his last outing, too, making him the first pitcher since Alex White in 2012 to have back-to-back starts with home runs.
• The Mets' Yoenis Cespedes tied an old Willie Stargell NL standard. He became the third player to collect at least five hits with three HRs, seven RBI and a stolen base in a game since Pops in 1968 (v the Cubs) and the White Sox' Carl Reynolds in 1930 (v the Yankees) per @EliasSports.

8/22: HBD Ned, Howie; A "Swatfest"; Hans Moments; 22 Innings; 3-10 K Games In A Row; Nellie's 1-Hitter; 6 Homers

• 1857 - CF and manager Ned Hanlon was born in Montville, Connecticut. He played in 1889 and 1891 for the Pirates, hitting .252, with a year in between spent as a Pittsburg Burgher in the Players League where he hit .278. He was a player/manager all three years, and “Foxy Ned” was credited with coming up with the "hit and run" and the Baltimore chop. Hanlon was elected to the Hall of Fame by the Veteran’s Committee in 1996.
• 1881 - RHP Howie Camnitz was born in Covington, Kentucky. He pitched nine seasons for Pittsburgh (1904-13), going 116-84 with a 2.63 ERA and posting three 20 win seasons. Camnitz was a member of the 1909 World Series club. He finished his career by pitching a couple of years in the upstart Federal League for the aptly named Pittsburgh Rebels.
• 1903 - The Pirates beat the last place Phillies 7-4 in the second game of a doubleheader sweep at Philadelphia. With that win, the Pirates had 1,409 wins and 1,409 losses since playing MLB in 1882, originally as the Alleghenys of the major league American Association. Even with some rough decades of losing ball, the franchise hasn’t dipped below .500 since then, per Chris Jaffe of The Hardball Times.
• 1906 - Vic Willis edged the NY Giant’s Christy Mathewson 2-1 at Exposition Park. After falling behind in the first inning, the Pirates evened the score in the fifth on two errors followed by two walks, then won in the ninth when Claude Ritchey walked, was bunted to second, and scored with two down on Fred Clarke’s double to right center.

Vic Willis 1986 TCMA All-Time series

• 1907 - As the Pittsburg Press reported “It was a regular swatfest from start to finish, the Buccaneers having no mercy...but hammering the ball to all corners of the lot” in a 20-5 win over the NY Giants at the Polo Grounds. George Gibson, Ed Abbaticchio and Alan Storke had four hits each while Tommy Leach and Fred Clarke had three. Lefty Leifield cruised to the win.
• 1910 - Honus Wagner led the Bucs to a 6-2, 8-4, doubleheader sweep against the Philadelphia Phillies at Forbes Field, going 7-for-7 with two homers, three doubles and a sac fly. The Bucs set a record in the second game by hitting three homers in an inning for the first time when Howie Camnitz, Vin Campbell and Hans connected. It was Camnitz’s only MLB home run.
• 1912 - Honus Wagner hit for the cycle in an 8-6 loss to the NY Giants at Forbes Field.
• 1917 - The Pirates lost the longest game (by innings) that they ever played, 6-5, in 22 frames to the Brooklyn Robins at Ebbet’s Field despite Carson Bigbee’s six hits (Bigbee set the MLB record with 11 at-bats in a single game). The game was the longest in NL history to that point. Poor Elmer Jacobs tossed 16-2/3 innings, giving up one run - and lost. The match was, as fate would have it, the opener of a double header; the second game went two innings before being called for darkness. It was the fourth straight extra-inning game for Pittsburgh, and third against Brooklyn.

Elmer Jacobs (via tnfotos Baseball Photo Page)

• 1925 - The Pirates swept a doubleheader from the second place NY Giants by 8-1 and 2-1 scores at the Polo Grounds behind the pitching of Lee Meadows and Vic Aldridge to take a five game lead in the NL race. Kiki Cuyler had three hits, including a homer, three RBI and two runs scored in the opener, while Glenn Wright’s two run homer in the seventh was the difference in the nitecap. The Pirates pulled away from the Giants and won the pennant by 8-1/2 games.
• 1928 - The Bucs big three of Paul Waner, Lloyd Waner and Pie Traynor led Pittsburgh to a 10-3 win over the Boston Braves at Forbes Field. Big Poison and Pie had three hits and three RBI apiece while the Waner brothers each scored three runs. Erv Brame tossed a six hitter for the win.
• 1962 - Tom Sturdivant’s knuckler fluttered its way past the Colt .45 bats for eight whiffs as he tossed a three hit, complete game whitewash against Houston at Forbes Field, winning 3-0. Bob Skinner’s two run triple followed by Roberto Clemente’s sac fly in the third provided all the Bucco runs. Clemente preserved the shutout by making a wall-crashing grab of Jim Pendleton’s ninth inning drive with a runner on second.
• 1969 - Dock Ellis capped three Bucco starters striking out 10+ hitters in consecutive games for the first time in club history when he K’ed 10 in a 8-2 win over Cincinnati at Forbes Field. Roberto Clemente tripled and had four RBI while Al Oliver added a homer. The streak started when Luke Walker whiffed 11 in a 5-1 win against Houston on the 19th, followed by Bob Veale winning a 1-0 decision with 10 punch outs the next day against Denny Lemaster and the Astros, with both performances also tossed at Forbes Field.

Dock Ellis 1969 Topps series

• 1970 - The Pirates beat Los Angeles 2-1 in 16 innings at Dodger Stadium. Roberto Clemente went 5-for-7 and scored the winning run when he led off the 16th with a single, stole second and came in on Jerry May’s two out knock to left. Four Pirate pitchers scattered seven hits, with Bruce Dal Canton getting the W, but they kept it interesting by issuing 11 walks; they even allowed LA pitcher Don Sutton to steal the only base of his career. The Dodgers went 0-for-15 with runners in scoring position.
• 1972 - Nellie Briles tossed a one hitter, giving up just a two-out, seventh inning single to Ken Henderson, to beat Juan Marichal and the SF Giants 1-0 at Candlestick Park. The game’s only score came in the first when Roberto Clemente reached on a two-out error by Tito Fuentes and came home on Willie Stargell’s double. Henderson was the only Giant baserunner; Briles didn’t walk anyone and whiffed six.
• 1975 - Pittsburgh swept the Reds in a doubleheader at TRS by 7-2 and 4-2 tallies. In the opener, Richie Zisk homered twice and Rennie Stennett had three hits to support Larry Demery. John Candelaria spun a four-hitter in the second game, backed by homers off the bats of Dave Parker and Richie Hebner.
• 1979 - The Pirates scored twice in the seventh and added two more in the eighth to rally past the SF Giants 8-6 at TRS. Tim Foli had four RBI, and his two-out, two run single up the middle drove in the winning runs in the eighth. Dave Parker also collected his 1,000th hit. Kent Tekulve, the last of four Pirate pitchers, got the win after tossing two scoreless innings of relief.

Tim Foli 1982 Topps series

• 2007 - The Bucs bashed six homers (Nate McLouth - 2, Freddy Sanchez, Xavier Nady, Jason Bay, Jack Wilson) to bang out an 11-2 decision over the Colorado Rockies at Coors Field. Sanchez had four hits and three RBI to plow the road for Tom Gorzelanny’s win.
• 2014 - Josh Harrison had a career high five RBI, all coming with two outs, to lead the Bucs to an 8-3 win over the Milwaukee Brewers at Miller Park. He had a double and homer, and Andrew McCutchen added another moon shot. Jeff Locke went six innings for the win; he gave up just two hits though he walked an unsightly six batters. The Pirate staff gave up eight free passes, while recording just one strikeout.

Giants Locke-d In Early, Hold On For 6-4 Win To Even Series

Jeff Locke was looking to come up with a second solid consecutive performance; he's still looking. A leadoff single and walk turned into a run after a Buster Posey sac fly. It looked manageable when Jeff went up 1-2 on Marlon Byrd. It wasn't. Byrd fouled off four balls, and then took the second of back-to-back 1-2 curves deep to make it 3-0. The Bucs did get a run back; Starling and Cutch singled with an out, and with two gone, JHK's knock plated Marte.

It didn't get better. After a line out, Locke gave up three straight hits; the middle being a blast by Mad Bum, his fifth, to put the G-Men up 5-1. The Pirates again made noise, starting with a walk and single. Jeff couldn't bunt them up, but Josh got HBP on an 0-2 pitch. Starling's force brought home a run.

It was six up, six down in the third; Byrd singled for San Fran, but was erased on a DP. In the fourth, a couple of Giant singles and a double made it 6-2. Bumgarner struck out the bottom third of the order. In the fifth, Byrd led off with a double but was stranded while Pittsburgh went down 1-2-3.

Jeff didn't have any tricks up his sleeve tonight (photo: Garnt Jeffries/Bradenton Herald)

Joe Blanton took over in the sixth, giving up a Nori Aoki two bagger but no runs. The Bucs went down in order again; they've hit a several balls on the nose, but can't find grass. To be fair, so have the Giants. After whiffing the first two G-Men in the seventh, Joe gave up back-to-back knocks, with runners on second and third thanks to Cutch's throwing error. An intentional walk and K of Bumgarner provided him an escape. Michael Morse led of with a double and S-Rod singled him to third. A sac fly got Mad Bum out of the match, replaced by Sergio Romo, who gave up another knock. No more fun, tho, as Starling swung at a slider way off the dish and bounced it to second for a 4-6-3 DP.

Antonio Bastardo got the call for the eighth and worked a clean frame, the first time SF hasn't had a runner aboard this game. Cutch opened with a double and A-ram singled him home. Romo went to his bread-and-butter slider, getting JHK swinging and Fran on a pop. Morse kept the inning alive with a knock, and that brought up Pedro. Lefty Josh Osich answered the call, and took El Toro to school with his cutter, getting a roll over and ground out to first on a 2-2 toss; the strikes were cutters no where near the dish that Pedro bit on.

Arquimedes Caminero toed the rubber and tucked the Giants away. Santiago Casilla came in for the save. He lost The Kid on five pitches, but two pitches later it was moot as Gregory rolled into a 4-6-3 DP. Marte went down, and so did the Bucs.

Well, Bumgarner didn't have a typical day, but Jeff Locke gave the Bucs virtually no chance to win tonight. They did rally - the lefty lineup allows Clint to whip up a pretty good hitting order later in the game - but two key plays were DPs hit into by the Bucs two fastest runners, Starling and Gregory, at times when a hit would have made things interesting. Another good matchup tomorrow when Gerrit Cole takes on Bucco nemesis Mike Leake.

• No surprise when Cutch has a pair of hits; so did bench bats S-Rod and Michael Morse.
• The 11 hits Jeff Locke surrendered in five innings were a career high for one game. Six went for extra bases.
• With his first inning homer, Marlon Byrd has a hit a bomb at PNC Park while playing for the Pirates, Phillies, Cubs, Mets, Nationals, Rangers, Reds, & Giants. Getting him for this series was a master stroke by the Giant FO. So far this year, Byrd is 22-61 (.361) with six homers and 14 RBI in 14 games v Pittsburgh.
• Tonight's attendance was 37,692, the 20th sellout of the season.