Tonight's Pirates starter, A.J. Burnett, entered tonight's game with an ERA around two. The Bucs were facing the Royals, a great defensive team. And the game began with Kansas City starter Yordano Ventura throwing 100 MPH while striking out the side in a terrific ten-pitch first inning.
So, naturally, the Pirates knocked Ventura out of the game after four-plus innings by knocking one single after another, then survived a chaotic last half of the game, finally emerging with a 10-7 victory to snap their brief post-break losing streak. And, obviously, Travis Ishikawa, a journeyman infielder who'd be little more than a baseball afterthought were it not for his playoff heroics with San Francisco last season, was in the middle of most of it, smacking a home run and two doubles to key the Bucs' win.