Bucs Bounce Back, Top Brew Crew 5-1

Fraze drew a walk for all the opening Bucco action against Brandon Woodruff. The Brew Crew worked a free pass and rap to leave runners stranded at the corners against Steven Brault. The Pirates cashed in first on Gregory’s solo shot in the second. Brault survived a JT Riddle boot, thanks in part to a JR Murphy toss-out of a would-be stealer. Nary a Pittsburgh peep in the third. The Crew led off with a rap and then a J-Bell error, and it later cost the tying run after Keston Hiura’s two-out single. Kevin Newman started it off with a rap in the fourth and trotted home ahead of J-Bell, who continued his resurgence by banging his fourth dinger. Kyle Crick was back in the saddle and put up a zero, leaving a Brewer on the pond. With two away in the fifth, Woodruff lost both Gonzo and Fraze on 3-2 pitches, and it bit him when K-Man singled home a run to make the count 4-1, although the back runner, Frazier, was tossed out at third. Nick Tropeano got the next call and gave up a rap but ran into no other problems.

Alex Claudio 1-2-3′ed Pittsburgh in the sixth. The Brew Crew put together a bunt single (Riddle is not exactly Brooks Robinson at the hot corner) and walk, but a timely 6-4-3 DP in between made for an easy frame for Nick. Singles by JR, Gonzo and Fraze off Eric Yardley pushed home another run in the seventh. After a pair of routine outs, Tropeano surrendered a walk and then bopped a batter. Geoff Hartlieb was called to the rescue and promptly plunked the next Brewer to juice the sacks, but did his job with an inning-ending K. JP Feyereisen took the ball in the eighth and sat the Buccos down in order. Milwaukee drew a one-down walk and moved the runner up after a wild pitch, but no damage was done. The Pirates went quietly in the ninth and sat Ric Rod back on the bar stool again. He issued a free pass with an out, then cruised through to shut the gate. Raise the Roger.

Notes:

• The top of the order did its job today, going 4-for-9 with three walks. Kevin Newman had two hits, Fraze was aboard three times with two walks & a knock, and Gonzo reached twice with a hit and a walk.
• Pittsburgh was quite efficient today – they went 2-for-3 with RISP and only stranded four. The Crew left 13 ducks on the pond and were 1-for-9 w/RISP.
• Sometimes, it ain’t how hard you hit it: Going into today, Gregory is second in exit velocity for his batted balls (96.1 MPH) and batting .120. Of his nine hits, five have left the yard. Miguel Sano is first with 96.3 MPH, and he’s hitting just .242. One other Buc is in the top 10 – the concussed Colin Moran is ninth with a 93.4 MPH velo; his BA is .259.
• Per Jerry DiPaolo of the Trib: Pregame, Shelty said that Anthony Alford is ticketed to be part of a rotation in CF with Cole Tucker and Jason Martin. He added there is no timeline for Big Joe Musgrove and Mitch Keller, who are both throwing to various degrees, to return other than sometime during the season.