Willy Whacked; Pirates Toppled 7-4 by KC

It was 1-2-3 for the Pirates against rookie Carlos Hernandez; Willy gave up a gopher ball to the first Royal he faced, Whit Merrifield before he settled in. The Bucs answered when J-Bell and B-Rey both banged second-inning solo shots to take the lead away. KC worked a walk and knock with two gone but didn’t cash in. The Bucs kept up the tattoo when Fraze went deep in the third to make the count 3-1. It was a short-lived lead. After a single, Adalberto Mondesi went boom to knot the score. Kyle Zimmer was waved in for the fourth, and he and Trevor exchanged clean frames. B-Rey walked to start the fifth; an out later, Stalls bounced into a DP. Mondesi kept at it with a single and stolen base. A knock sent him home; another rap sent him to third, although Fraze threw out the back runner at second. That was followed by a walk. A soft roller was tapped to the hill; Williams threw it away, plating a run and leaving runners at second and third. A free pass juiced the sacks and a sac fly made it 6-3 before the smoke cleared.

Fraze singled with an out in the sixth, bringing on Jesse Hahn who finished up neatly. Austin Davis made his Bucco debut (Willy used up 101 pitches) and flipped a quiet frame. Josh Staumont drew the seventh inning assignment. He was tagged for consecutive knocks by J-Bell & Gregory, but a B-Rey DP and another bouncer contributed another zero to the board. Kyle Crick toed the rubber and lost it with two down, giving up two singles and two walks before Sam Howard was waved in to shut it down. Scott Barlow climbed the mound in the eighth; Gonzo manufactured a run with a double, swiped sack and right-side grounder, making the tally 7-4. A single and wild pitch got Key to second, where he stayed. Derek Holland was next up. He served up a two-bagger, but two whiffs kept the Royal anchored. Greg Holland faced three batters in the ninth to earn the save.

 Notes:

• J-Bell is en fuego, going 9-of-18 w/2 HR in his past five games. He and Fraze both had two hits tonight. Adam is coming around, too; he’s batting .282 in the past four weeks. B-Rey also reached base twice with a homer and walk.
• Who’d a’thunk that Erik Gonzalez’s 19 RBI would lead the team? J-Bell and Fraze both have 17.
• BTW, the shooter that police dealt with at Arrowhead was arrested without further gunplay before the game, so that episode ended as well as could be hoped for.