Final Score: Pirates 2 Cubs 3 in 10 innings
Why The Pirates Lost: The Triple P Offense did improve on one of its P’s. They were a little less passive. They took 19 strikes for the game. In the first inning, when they scored their only 2 runs, they only took one strike. Oneil Cruz miraculously swung at every pitch in the strike zone for the game. He had a decent game, going 1 for 3 with a walk. His two outs were well-hit deep fly balls. The bottom 4 batters took 13 strikes for the game. Not a coincidence that they went 0 for 15 with a walk. The Pirates had 3 hits in the 1st inning. For the next 9 innings, they had 1 hit. The last 16 batters in the game made 14 outs with 2 walks. They were a little less passive, but pathetic and putrid continued. The Cubs did not really light it up either, but again the better ball club won. Mitch Keller pitched a respectable 6 innings, giving up 2 runs on 3 hits. He struck out 3 and walked 2. The Pirates are 1-3 on the road trip. It looks like it is headed for disaster.
Key Moments Of The Game: Both teams scored 2 runs in the 1st inning. For the next 7 and 1/2 innings, neither team had much traffic on the base paths. In the bottom of the 9th, the Cubs got some 2-out lightning off Dennis Santana. Dansby Swanson singled. Nico Hoerner doubled, putting runners on 2nd and 3rd. Santana almost threw a wild pitch to Justin Turner. Henry Davis made a great stop to temporarily save the game. Two pitches later, Turner grounded out to Hayes to end the threat. The Pirates could not score in the top of the 10th, thanks to poor situational hitting. The Pirates did the right thing by intentionally walking Kyle Tucker to start the bottom of the 10th. That was the last thing they did right. They fell asleep at the wheel, allowing the Cubs to double steal without even making a throw. David Bednar struck out Jon Berti. Here is where they should have intentionally walked Ian Happ. They did not, and the Pirate killer singled to end the game.
Next game: Tomorrow night, Tigers in Detroit. The Tigers have one of the better pitching staffs in the league. Most likely, the Pirates will face Tarik Skubal sometime in the series. Expect a no-hitter in that game. The Pirates are off today. Could they possibly make some kind of move to help the offense? Why do we even think like this? They will not. The Pirates were a little less passive; that is a step in the right direction. They still need to be more aggressive. Maybe they will trend in that direction. They will have an exhaustive practice day. That’s why some players will need two days of rest. McCutchen might even need three.
The Goofy Game of Golf/Life Searching for the Answer 