Bucs Win Again, 3 Out of First

     Brad Lincoln made a spot-start for an injured Erik Bedard and threw an efficient six innings in a 3-2 win in Miami.

     Lincoln allowed five baserunners over six while allowing only two runs, a Hanley Ramirez homer in the first and an Emilio Bonifacio RBI single after a Logan Morrison double. Lincoln retired the Marlins in order three times while throwing only 80 pitches. Jared Hughes, Jason Grilli would both record holds with an inning of scoreless effort each and the Hammer would record his seventh save with a perfect ninth.

     The offense did just enough to keep Lincoln's record perfect. Jose Tabata led the game off with a double and scored on an Andrew McCutchen sac fly. The Barge would follow an inning later with his second homer of the season and Pedro would hit a game-winning double in the sixth to finish out the scoring.   

Starters Lines
Lincoln: (W, 3-0) 6 IN, 4 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 3 K's (2 to Sanchez)
Sanchez: (L, 2-1) 7 IN, 6 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 1 BB, 5 K's

Stud/Dud of the Game
Stud: Brad Lincoln - After establishing himself as the long-relief guy, Lincoln only allowed two in his spot start while picking up the win.

Dud: Neil Walker - 0-4, strikeout and 1 LOB.

Turning Point
Pedro's go-ahead double in the sixth. In the back-and-forth battle Pedro got the last laugh.

Final Thoughts
-- This is the Pirates third win in a row. Good enough to bring them a game under .500 (17-18) and 3 games back from the first place Cardinals.

-- Alex Presley's slump has dropped his AVG down to .226.