The Cubs spent close to $290 million on free agents after beating the Pirates in last year’s National League wild-card game, while also budgeting for the natural improvement from their young players and the experience gained during that playoff run.
Advertisement
Ben Zobrist hit a three-run homer, Anthony Rizzo also connected and Jon Lester worked out of a pair of jams to lead the Chicago Cubs over the Pittsburgh Pirates 6-2 Wednesday for a three-game sweep.
I want you to stop whatever you’re doing right now and think about how remarkable this Cubs season is so far, 25 games in, 15 percent of the year.
There were a lot of students in attendance at Wednesday’s afternoon game, as evidenced by the number of yellow school buses. McCutchen sacrificed another run for the Pirates in the bottom of the inning, but their scoring stopped there.
Keuchel (2-4) allowed five runs on five hits with three strikeouts in 4 1/3 innings and struggled with his command for the third time this season, walking five.
Already, the Pirates have six pitchers who have appeared in over 40 percent of the games they have been on the roster – Arquimedes Caminero, Neftali Feliz, Mark Melancon, Tony Watson, AJ Schlugel, and Jared Hughes.
Wainwright (2-3) was the last Cardinals pitcher to get a win after yielding four runs over 5 1/3 innings in an 11-4 rout at Arizona on April 27. That is a pace of over 3.8 innings per game – a pace that, if not reversed, could make for exhausted arms come September. Freese has continued to provide the Pittsburgh Pirates with solid offense and reliable defense at third base in the absence of Jung Ho Kang, who should return in the next few days.
Even when Cole came out, he was responsible for the three Cubs left on base, all of which scored.
Build your own custom daily newsletter with updates on your favorite teams, sent directly to your inbox. Andrew McCutchen’s first inning solo shot made me a little nervous, as I can’t help but feel some trepidation when Jason Hammel is pitching.
RANGERS 2, BLUE JAYS 1 Nomar Mazara hit a tiebreaking home run in the eighth inning and visiting Texas beat Toronto for its fifth victory in six games.
KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Washington scored early and often, with six runs in the first inning and four in the third to blow away Kansas City. That should have been the inning’s final out.
SAN DIEGO – Tyler Chatwood (4-2) pitched three-hit ball for eight innings in his sixth start since Tommy John surgery, sending San Diego to its eighth shutout loss in 28 games this season.
Pitcher Ryan Vogelsong – Long reliever Ryan Vogelsong entered the game in the sixth inning with the Pirates trailing 4-0. In 15 innings pitched Vogelsong has a 5.73 FIP, 4.97 xFIP, and a BABIP of.190, all of these numbers indicate he is due for some seriously painful regression. Niese is 3-6 with a 4.76 ERA in 10 career starts against the Cubs. He became the second six-game victor in the major leagues after Chris Sale of the White Sox. Unfortunately, the Pirates were unable to cash in against Jon Lester.
Lester (2-1, 1.83 ERA) has opened with five straight quality starts for the first time in his stellar career. Pirates 2B Josh Harrison got the day off and INF/OF Sean Rodriguez started in his place…. Finally, Gregory Polanco struck out swinging on a 3-2 pitch to end the inning. Let the Pirates draw first blood, the Cubs will respond in kind.
Advertisement
“Part of it is just that he had to have better luck”, Maddon said.
