Jake The Rake, B-Rey & Key Carry Pirates To 5-3 Opening Win Over The Fish

Today’s Game: Tyler Anderson fanned a pair in a clean start. Ke’Bryan Hayes beat out on infield single in his return and Bryan Reynold’s knock sent him to third, but the next two Bucs looked at third strikes delivered by Elieser Hernandez, which was not a good Buc’n look with a runner at third. It took 10 pitches to sit down Miami in the second, and ditto for the Pirates, with Marte gloving all three outs. The Fish got a single and bunted him to second. A two-out rap into center made it 1-0 before a caught stealing ended the Florida third. The Bucs went quietly; the Elieser total is four K and five flies to Starling. It was 1-2-3 in the fourth for the Marlins. Bryan Reynolds escaped the Marte flytrap by banging one into the Clemente seats to knot the score. Tyler stranded a one-out double in the fifth while the bottom of the Pittsburgh order went up and down without a peep. 

A single by Elieser followed by a one-out Marte double ended Anderson’s night in the sixth, and Clay Holmes was waved in. A dribbler plated the pitcher – he pulled up lame coming in and was helped off the field – and another knock made it 3-1. Ross Detwiler climbed the mound for Miami. Key banged a triple off the Clemente Wall with one gone and scored when B-Rey’s bouncer to short was booted (it was a tough play and would have scored the run if cleanly fielded). After a K, Anthony Bender was brought on and got the last out. In the seventh, Holmes struck out the leadoff man, who reached on a third-strike wild pitch and then stole second. That was followed by a walk. They were bunted up and Sam Howard was given the ball. Ex-Bucco Corey Dickerson grounded out sharply, freezing the runners, and a rangy, diving play in the hole by Young Hayes kept it 3-2. Anthony Bass toed the slab and gave up a single to Ben Gamel, who was caught stealing on a bang-bang play, and the inning ended quietly. 

Kyle Crick spun in the eighth, giving up a walk but posting a zero. Dylan Floro surrendered an infield knock to Adam Frazier with one gone. A grounder moved him along, then B-Rey was worked around and walked. Gregory Polanco drew an unintentional free pass to allow Jake Stallings to bang a two-out, two-strike, bases-clearing double (Gregory was flying from the crack of the bat) to put Pittsburgh up 5-3. Richard Bleier was waved in to finish the inning. Richard Rodriguez was called on to close it out, and a two-out single by the Fish just delayed the inevitable. Raise it.

Expect this type of series; both teams are small-ball offenses and the pitching/D will be play big. It should be an entertaining set.

Notes:

• Ke’Bryan Hayes and Bryan Reynolds each had a pair of hits (with a triple for Key and dinger for B-Rey). Reynolds had two RBI, and Jake Stallings the other three. All five runs were tallied by the top four in the order, who banged out five hits (the Bucs had seven overall) and a pair of walks.
• Ka’ai Tom pinch hit tonight, so his wrist injury was minor.
• The Bucs played a short vid tribute for Starling Marte before his first at bat, and he recognized the fans with a wave afterward.
• Tonight’s attendance was 4,192.
• MLB announced the penalty for getting caught with a foreign substance will be a 10-game suspension; sounds like they’re ready to crack down on all the spin-producing gunk now popular with hurlers once formal guidelines are established.

Tomorrow’s Game: The game starts at 7:05 and will be carried by AT&T SportsNet & 93.7 The Fan. It’s a free tee giveaway night.