Pirates Morning Report: Weaver and Montgomery Come Through Again.

Final Score: Pirates 4 Cubs 3.

Why The Pirates Won: Bubba Chandler danced through the raindrops for 5 and 1/3 innings, giving up 3 runs on 5 hits and 4 walks. He struck out 2 and surrendered a 2-run home run while throwing 90 pitches. See, the Pirates will let you throw over 82 pitches; all you have to do is struggle. Pitch counts are meaningless to this coaching staff. Carmen Mlodzinski escaped a jam created by Chandler in the 6th and pitched a scoreless 7th, allowing only a walk. Luke Weaver and Mason Montgomery retired the side in order in the 8th and 9th, enabling the Pirates to salvage the last game of the series. The offense did not do much but did enough, managing to score 4 runs on 9 hits and 5 walks. They were 3 for 6 with runners in scoring position. Brandon Lowe got the big hit, a pinch-hit single to drive in runs 3 and 4. In the bottom of the 6th, Chandler tried to give it back, but even Don Kelly saw that he did not have it and went to the bullpen just in time. The A team did the job.

Key Moments of the Game: One thing is for sure; Henry Davis was not involved in any of them. He went 0 for 4, not hitting a ball over 300 feet or over 98 MPH. This dropped his sparkling batting average down to .164. The Cubs were 0 for 4 with runners in scoring position. In the second inning, the Cubs had runners on 1st and 2nd with nobody out and did not score. It was in the 6th inning that they left this game on the table. After one out, they got a single, a double, and a walk to load the bases. In came Carmen (Why Was He Not in This Role All Year) Mlodzinski. He got a weak ground ball out that did score a run, putting runners on 2nd and 3rd with 2 outs. After falling behind Michael Conforto 3-0, he intentionally walked him to load the bases once again. On a 2-1 pitch, he induced Pedro Ramirez to hit a lazy fly ball to Jake Mangum in right field to end the inning. The Cubs never threatened again.

Next Game: Tomorrow night, the Brewers in Pittsburgh. The Pirates picked up no ground on the Padres as they won again, sweeping the pathetic Giants in San Francisco. The Pirates could not do that at home. The Padres play tonight; they go to Colorado to play the Rockies, where believe it or not, they have had some problems. When the dust settles, the Pirates will either be 6 or 7 games behind them with 12 games to go. Even Greg Brown says they have to win every game. Stay tuned.