Cubs: Chicago opens a four-game series Thursday night against Washington with RHP Kyle Hendricks (1-2, 3.52 ERA) pitching on eight days’ rest against RHP Joe Ross (3-0, 0.79).
Advertisement
Matt Adams, Aledmys Diaz and Randal Grichuk added solo homers and Kolten Wong hit a two-run homer. That came after Hammel hit the last batter he faced, Starling Marte, with a pitch to start the bottom of the sixth.
Rodriguez scored Pittsburgh’s only run in the eighth on Jaso’s single. Maddon and Cervelli became friends in the offseason when Cervelli worked out at a gym owned by Maddon’s wife, Jaye, in Tampa, Florida.
The Cubs have won seven successive road games and completed their first sweep of the Pirates in four years.
The Chicago Cubs look to keep rolling after winning 10 of their last 13 games. We’ve all been there.
“He’s facing a different guy now, ” Arrieta said. The Pirates have allowed 20 runs in their last three game and six or more runs in four of their last six games.
“I don’t think it’s a long-term kind of thing by any means, but his wrist is sore”, Maddon said.
As Jon Lester looks to help continue that trend and his own strong start, the Cubs can sweep this three-game series with a seventh consecutive road win over the Pittsburgh Pirates on Wednesday. Offensively, Starling Marte leads Pittsburgh with 35 hits, Josh Harrison has 15 RBI and Gregory Polanco has three home runs.
Hammel’s ERA rose to 1.24 after entering the game with a National League-leading 0.75 mark as he gave up two runs and five hits in five-plus innings with three strikeouts and one walk.
Further, even though the Cubs scored seven times in this game (10th time in 24 games they’ve scored at least seven), it could have been a lot more, as they left 11 runners on base (3-for-19 with RISP, and that’s a very large number of at-bats with RISP).
The Cubs have won Arrieta’s last 18 starts – a franchise record – dating to July, and they’ve won his five turns this season by an average of 7.6 runs. “I read after the game that this was the first time in his career he walked the first two hitters in a game but it didn’t faze him one bit”.
Anibal Sanchez (3-3) didn’t allow a hit through three innings, but gave up four runs on three hits, a walk, a hit batter and a wild pitch in the fourth. Andrew McCutchen drove in both Pirates’ run with a first-inning homer, his sixth, and a ground out in the fifth.
It was the second consecutive walk-off win for the Blue Jays over the Rangers after Texas won the opener of the four-game series on Monday.
Ortiz’s two-run homer in the fifth inning gave the Red Sox a 3-2 lead.
The Pirates scored only five runs against the Cubs during the Cubs’ three-game sweep at PNC Park. Szczur, who took Heyward’s place in the lineup, left the game with right hamstring tightness after scoring in the fifth inning and is scheduled for an MRI on Tuesday morning.
CINCINNATI – Jeff Samardzija went eight innings to win his third straight start – a career first – and the San Francisco Giants rallied for two runs in the eighth inning against the Reds’ historically bad bullpen for a 3-1 victory Tuesday night.
Advertisement
Zobrist moved to right field to replace Szczur, the first time Ben has played any position for the Cubs other than second base.
