Pirates Keep the Merry-Go-Round Spinning In 9-2 Romp Over Marlins

Today’s Game: Mitch Keller’s first pitch was drilled for a double, but a K and a couple of sharply hit grounders that found gloves got him safely back to the dugout. Cody Poteet issued a four-pitch free pass to Adam Frazier, who trotted home ahead of Ke’Bryan Hayes’ dinger to dead center. Poteet gave up a two-out walk before finishing a 31-pitch frame. With an out in the second, Kells started spraying his pitches and walked three consecutive batters, two of whom he started out 0-2 against. The pitcher bounced into a force at home, but it was a short-lived reprieve as Jose Devers’ chalk line two-bagger tied the score. With two down, Chase De Jong, tomorrow’s starter, pinch hit for Keller (45 pitches, 34 last inning, with no announcement as to why he was being pulled) and K’ed. Duane Underwood came in for the third and served three whiffs, with a walk thrown in. The first two Bucs walked – lotta that going on tonight – before a comebacker turned into a 1-6-3 DP. Gregory Polanco came through with a two-out rap to make it 3-2, then stole second, after a Shelty challenge. Adam Cimber took the ball and closed the frame. Both teams ended up bullpenning, and not by choice, today. It appeared that Poteet was hurt (confirmed later; he had a knee injury). 

The Fish opened the fourth with a single/double combo. A strike out, toss out at home on a contact play and tap out kept the scoreboard clean for Duane. With an out, the Bucs bopped back-to-back singles by Kevin Newman and Erik Gonzalez, then Cole Tucker walked to jam the sacks. Fraze singled home a run before Key bled into a 2-3 DP; he nipped a ball that usually spins foul but instead sat on top of the plate. Chasen Shreve worked a clean fifth. Ross Detwiler grabbed the ball and yielded a single while posting a zero. A double with one gone in the sixth brought on Chris Stratton. A grounder moved the runner up and a foul pop left him there. Zach Pop was tagged for an E-Gon knock and Ben Gamel double with one away. Fraze’s rap brought in Gonzalez and Young Hayes chased home Ben with another single. B-Rey’s double plated one more tally and Jake Stalling’s added the cherry on top with a two-out, two-run knock to put the Buccos up 9-2. Three grounders, three outs for the Marlins in the seventh. John Curtiss 1-2-3′ed the Pirates.

Stratton put the Fish away without a bite in the eighth. Catcher Sandy Leon got a different look from the usual view; he was called on to pitch. The Pirates spanked a couple of long flies off Leon, but he twirled hitless ball. Chris Stratton’s routine ninth closed out 3-2/3 innings of perfect ball. Raise it.

The Bucs got another super performance from the bullpen – three guys went seven scoreless frames. Though nine of their 12 hits were singles, mixed in with five walks, the Pirates small-balled nicely, stringing hits together with a clutch 6-for-10 RISP line.

Notes:

• Four guys had two hits: Fraze (plus two walks), Key (with one walk), B-Rey and E-Gon. Young Hayes had three RBI and two runs scored while Fraze chased home a pair home and plated three times.
• The Pirates announced that Mitch Keller was yanked from the game due to “heat illness” and is being evaluated by the medicos.
• Tonight’s nine runs are a single-game season high for the Pirates.
• The attendance was 8,044.

Tomorrow’s Game: The game starts at 4:05 and will be aired by AT&T SportsNet & 93.7 The Fan. The day’s handout is a free tote bag compliments of MLB Network. The mound match up is Chase De Jong v Trevor Rogers.