The Pirates struck early and got some help from Mother Nature as they would score 4 runs early on way to a 4 – 2 victory and series sweep over the Chicago Cubs on Thursday afternoon.
The Buccos struck against Cubs Starter, Edwin Jackson for 2 runs in the first and second innings. Starling Marte led-off the inning with yet another single. He would then steal second and score on an Andrew McCutchen RBI single. Cutch would then mimic Marte and steal second for himself, then score on a Michael McKenry RBI single to make it 2 – 0 Pirates after an inning.
McCutchen would end the day with two stolen bases and three for the series. Manager, Clint Hurdle mentioned that he did work on this aspect of his game over the winter and in spring training. “It all goes back to his mindset. It’s something that Andrew and I talked about over the winter and something he put down on his to-do list, that he needed to get that in play. He did work hard over the winter on the mechanical aspect of it, the crossover, first-step quickness. He’s always trying to shape his game to improve his game and he’s pulled it all off.”
The Bucs would score two more times in the second. Marte would single for the second time in two innings and score on a Travis Snider triple. Snider would then score on Cutch’s second RBI of the afternoon to make it 4 – 0.
The Cubs would threaten in the fourth in what would be Gomez’s final inning of the day. David DeJesus would lead off the inning with a double and score on a Starling Castro single to make it 4 – 1. Anthony Rizzo would then reach by way of a force-out of Castro and advance to third on a Nate Schierholtz grounder that was booted by Garrett Jones to set up first and third with two out.
Luckily for the Pirates, Mother Nature was on their side as a storm reached PNC Park and halted play for 1 hour and 47 minutes. By the time play resumed, both starters were unable to return and the bullpens had to take over. Vin Mazzaro would come in and get the final out of the fourth thanks to a fine diving play by Pedro Alvarez to get Wellington Castillo to end the threat.
Castillo would score the Cubs final run as he walked in the seventh off of Jose Contreras, went to third on a Darwin Barney single, and scored on a Ryan Sweeney RBI single off of Justin Wilson to make it 4 – 2 with runners at the corners and two out. Wilson would then get DeJesus to fly out to end the inning.
Wilson would pitch a perfect eighth and Jason Grilli would record save number 19 with a perfect ninth. Final Score: Pirates 4, Cubs 2.
Travis Snider is happy with the way the Pirates have been playing (8 – 2 for the homestand) and they have been having fun doing it. “We’re a bunch of clowns, I mean, in the clubhouse and on the plane and we really have a good time which is going to make the long season a little bit shorter for all of us, but at the same time there’s a level of work ethic that’s been instilled since spring training and, just everybody pulls for each other.”
The Pirates will now take to the road for a 5-game road trip starting in Milwaukee tomorrow night at 8:05.
Tomorrow’s Starters:
(RHP) A.J. Burnett (PIT) 3 – 4, 2.57 ERA
(RHP) Marco Estrada (MIL) 3 – 2, 5.44 ERA
(Photo Credit:Jared Wickerham/Getty Images )
