Phils Flummox Pirates 7-2, Notes & News

Trevor worked a clean, nine-pitch opener. Jeremy Hellickson didn’t; J-Hay single and scored on J-Bell’s double to The Notch. Joshua came around after a two-out throw-away of Fran’s bouncer to make it 2-0 from the gun. The second was clean for both pitchers. A leadoff single that rolled past third turned into a double when a fan snagged the live ball. It was moot after Trevor lost Hellickson an out later. Another knock cut the lead in half before Williams finished the third round. Cutch walked with two gone for all the Bucco action. The fourth was a quiet frame both ways; Hellickson has had some luck in reaping hard-hit outs so far. Trevor twirled another 1-2-3 inning in the fifth. Pittsburgh didn’t even bother with a loud out in their half, twice hitting into comebackers. The Pirates haven’t had a hit since the Joshes opened the game with knocks.

A leadoff walk bit Williams when a jam-shot, chalk-duster double and grounder tied the game in the sixth. A sac fly gave Philly the lead and Odubal Herrera ran Trevor’s pitch count to 93 with an 11-pitch at-bat that ended in a single. Clint waved in Josh Lindblom who promptly picked off Herrera, catching him on the break for the Bucs to eventually run down. Jeremy looked like Cy Young, needing just six pitches to tuck the Corsairs away. The Phils opened the seventh with a Maikel Franco rap, a grounder moved him up and Hellickson’s two-out, two-bag flare into left plated him. It did take a toll; Jeremy had to leave the game after his dash. Pat Neshek toed the rubber and ran the Bucco sit-down streak to 13 hitters.

Philadelphia stranded a two-out single in the eighth and then sent Joaquin Benoit to the mound. Even pinch-hitter Fraze couldn’t light a fire as the Bucs were 1-2-3′ed again. Tony Watson climbed the bump for the ninth. A single on a bloop into short right and misthrow on a bunt by Freeser put Phils on the corners. Cameron Rupp’s homer then sent what was left of the TV audience to the Pens game. J-Bell broke up the late-starting no-hitter with a leadoff single off Hector Neris, which was the Bucs’ last hurrah.

Trevor pitched decently for a second straight game; his downfall was a fisted dink that was the linchpin of the Phil’s sixth inning. Everybody put the ball in play as there were just four whiffs total on the night (one served by Pittsburgh pitchers). Enough of Philly’s balls dropped; Pittsburgh had a warning track power surge tonight, good for an ooh and aah but not worth much in the run column. The team’s .264 BABIP is unlucky, but their line drive/soft contact rates are among the league’s worse so it’s not all on the baseball gods. A little more consistency in the lineup might help, but it’s hard to cobble something together when three of your everyday guys – Cutch, Cervy and Jordy – are hitting under .220. Fraze and J-Hay are the only regulars hitting above the .250s and the team itself hits around .220.

Notes:

• J-Bell has an extra-base hit in seven consecutive games. The Pirates had three hits tonight; he had two of them.
• Freeser’s had a tough time regaining his eye since his trip to the DL – he’s just 1-of-19 since his return with seven whiffs.
• 25,795 were in the park, not much of a crowd for a fireworks night.
• Phil Gosselin, who collected four hits in 19 Pirate games with a .138 BA has an eight-game hitting streak at Indy.

News:

• The Pirates claimed reliever Jhan Mariñez off waivers from the Brewers. Jhan was out of minor-league options and is a middle reliever with a mid-nineties fastball, slider, and change-up.The 28-year-old Dominican righty has tossed for the Marlins, White Sox, Rays and Brew Crew with a slash of 1-4/3.63. He went 0-2, 5.40 in 15 outings for Milwaukee, but put up a 3.18 ERA last season and is a ground ball machine. No roster moves yet; that will be determined when he joins the team.

• Jameson Taillon has a presser today about his bout with testicular cancer. The docs believe they got it all, although he’s awaiting the results of blood tests to confirm that. JT is starting light baseball activities and will get into a more strenuous recovery rehab after the test results give him the green light. So no new news but it was still good to see him up and about. He showed off a giant fan card offering best wishes and was contacted by other survivors like Lance Armstrong, Andrew Lambo, Chad Bettis and John Kruk to provide him with a support group.