Final Score: Pirates 2 Cubs 12
Why the Pirates lost: The Pirates failed in every phase of the game. They could not pitch, giving up 16 hits. They could not hit, managing only 7 hits, with 3 of those coming in the first inning when they got their only runner in scoring position for the game. Nine of the last 10 batters of the game made outs. Even though they were only charged with one error, it looked like a little league game in the field. Not only could they not catch pop-ups and fly balls, but they also struggled to stay on their feet while trying to make routine plays. On the rare occasions when they did catch a ball, they would fall over backward. This was not the support that three rookie pitchers needed. Needless to say, a team like the Cubs took full advantage of the Pirates’ circus in the field. The one oddity of this game was that there were only a combined 6 strikeouts. The Pirates struck out 4 times, and the Cubs 2. To make matters worse, Esmerlyn Valdez pulled up lame, apparently with a hamstring injury, and Billy Cook had to bat. Another winning streak was stopped before it could reach 6 games.
Key Moments Of The Game: The bottom of the 2nd showed how this game was going to go. Wilbur Dotel had retired the side in order in the 1st inning. Alex Bregman opened the inning with a single on a 0-1 fastball right down the middle. Ian Happ followed up with a ground ball that hit Dotel in the leg and stopped between him and 1st base for an infield hit. If he could have gotten out of the way, it most likely would have been a double play. Nico Hoerner singled to center to load the bases. The Cubs scored on a foul ball sacrifice fly that Jake Mangum stole out of the stands for the first out. Another Pirate pitcher failed to quickly cover 1st base, which may have cost them a double play chance. This left runners on first and third with 2 outs. If Dotel could have stopped the bleeding here, you never know what might have happened the rest of the way. Unfortunately for the Pirates, the Cubs started a catcher who can hit, and Carson Kelly came through with a big 2-out double that scored 2 runs to put the Cubs out in front 3-1. The Cubs added two in the third and four in the fourth as the Pirates made every fielding play an adventure. I am not saying the Pirate rookie pitchers pitched well, but they deserved better support than they got.
Next Game: This afternoon, Cubs in Chicago. It is Paul Skenes vs. former Pirate Clay Holmes. Holmes is another player the Pirates failed to develop. The best way to describe this is that in the 4 years he was with the Pirates, he had a WAR of -0.9. In his 7 seasons away from the Pirates, he has a WAR of 9.7. I would say he will have some incentive to pitch well today. Both the Padres and the Diamondbacks won last night. The Pirates are now 6 games back in the loss column with 14 games to go. If the Cubs sweep the Pirates, they are done. Stay tuned.
The Goofy Game of Golf/Life Searching for the Answer 