Marlins tag Chad Kuhl, Dovydas Neverauskas; Pirates lose, 7-2

A few silly plays put the Pirates in a hole on Friday night in Miami. Then a big old Justin Bour home run made sure the Bucs stayed there, losing to the Marlins, 7-2.

J.B. Shuck’s one-out triple put Chad Kuhl in a tight spot in the second inning. After a walk to Lewis Brinson, Kuhl fanned eighth-place hitter Chad Wallach to bring up pitcher Dillon Peters with two outs. Facing Peters, though, Kuhl uncorked a wild pitch to let Shuck score. A nice, sliding play by Corey Dickerson on Peters’ sinking liner to left avoided further damage, and the Marlins held a 1-0 lead.

Elias Diaz gave the Pirates a 2-1 lead with a two-run, line-drive homer to left in the fifth inning, but the Bucs weren’t ahead for long.

Three singles off Kuhl, with a bunt in the middle, loaded the bases for the Marlins in the bottom of the fifth. Starlin Castro filed out to right and Gregory Polanco’s throw was off line. Miguel Rojas took off from first and the catcher Diaz threw wildly over second base; the ball rolled well into center field with Starling Marte having shifted towards left-center, and three runs scored on the play, giving Miami a 4-2 edge.

Back-to-back singles to open the bottom of the sixth chased Kuhl, and the newly-recalled Kyle Crick came on for his Pirates debut. Wallach bunted the runners over, but with Diaz fielding the bunt, Crick failed to head home, leaving the plate wide open and Shuck made his way in for the Marlins’ fifth run.

In the seventh, Bour prolonged what’s been a putrid start to the season for Dovydas Neverauskas, slamming a two-run homer off the facade of the upper deck.

Kuhl allowed 11 hits in five innings, with two strikeouts, a walk and the five runs.

Neverauskas stayed in for two innings, surrendering three hits in total.

Diaz did have a nice night at the plate, going 2-for-2 with a walk. Dickerson stayed hot with a 2-for-4 night.

Shuck, recently called up from the Triple-A New Orleans Baby Cakes, went 4-for-4.

The Pirates get a good chance to bounce back with reigning National League Player of the Week Jameson Taillon taking the mound Saturday evening against Miami’s Trevor Richards.