Close But No Cigar - Bucs Swept Again, 6-5, In 11 Innings

Big Joe had a 1-2-3 inning, thx to a pick-off of the leadoff batter (confirmed by replay review) who he had walked. The Bucs bounced out three times against Yusei Kikuchi. In the second, aye carumba – a walk, a couple of singles, a bunt and two errors opened the gates for four Mariner runs. And holy moly, the Bucs roared right back. They hit four doubles, banged by Redbeard, Eli (should have been an error; yay home cookin’), Jake Elmore and Moose, with a two-out K-Man RBI rap, to score four runs and tie the match. The M’s stranded a third inning single; Pittsburgh did the same with Moran’s infield knock. Seattle had a quiet fourth. Erik Gonzalez singled and Newman bunted his way aboard with two gone. A walk packed the sacks, but Bucs and bases loaded… The Mariner’s lost a leadoff infield rap in the fifth to a caught stealing and Moose fanned the other pair. Zac Grotz took the hill and the Bucs took the lead. Eli walked, went to second on a roller, then was chased home by Jake Elmore’s two-out rap. Jake was tossed out on the play heading to second on the throw home, but did job #1.

Ric Rod was called on for the sixth, and he left a pair of Mariners on the bases. Dan Altavilla fluffed the rosin, then pitched a 1-2-3 frame. Frankie Liriano got the seventh inning beckon. With two outs, he walked a pair and gave up a single to tie the game. Taylor Guilbeau was tapped for a Joey O single; the other three Buccos bounced out. Michael Feliz got a fly, gave up a walk and then teased out a DP ball to cruise through the eighth. Austin Adams gave up a Jake Elmore rap – go Jake! – and survived Dee Gordon’s throwing error trying to turn a DP to post a zero. Keone Kela took the bump as the new ninth inning man. He gave up a trio of one-out raps to juice the sacks, but a whiff and fly doused the fire. Anthony Bass was waved on and put away the Pirates without a peep. Parker Markel got the 10th and gave up a two-gone single and no more. Brandon Brennan climbed the slope and retired the Buccos in order. Clay Holmes toed the slab in the 11th, and the leadoff runner reached on a Joey O boot. A knock with one gone put M’s on the corners,and a grounder put them up. Weird play – Kramer went to first on a ball that was hit weakly (he had almost no chance to get the runner at home). That removed the force, though the Bucs did turn the DP via a rundown. Erik Swanson lost Erik Gonzalez with an out, but struck out the side around the pass.

Well, ya know – give up three unearned runs and lose by one in extras…it’s not just bad luck that keeps losing streaks alive.

Notes:

• Jake Elmore had three hits; K-Man and Redbeard a pair apiece.
• Today’s game lasted four hours and 16 minutes.
• The paid attendance at PNC Park was 12,543, again not near to matching the actual crowd.
• Adam Berry of MLB.com notes that going into today, Bryan Reynolds was batting .318 and Kevin Newman, .319. If they finish out the year both hitting above .300, they will become the first pair of qualified rookie teammates to hit .300+ in the same season since Fred Lynn and Jim Rice for the 1975 Red Sox. 
• Last night, Gerrit Cole became just the 18th pitcher in MLB history to notch at least 300 strikeouts in a season.