After dropping two of three games in St. Louis over the weekend, the Pittsburgh Pirates opened up their home schedule this afternoon at PNC Park against the Chicago Cubs.
It was a close game throughout, dominated by defense and pitching and three homeruns. The Cubs hit two and the Pirates only hit one. The result was a 2-1 victory for Chicago over the Buccos.
Jose Quintana pitched well in his debut in a Pirates’ uniform, giving up one run on five hits and two walks in 5.1 innings of work. Unfortunately, he was tagged with the loss on the day, as he was slightly outdone on the bump by his opponent, Drew Smyly.
The two teams combined for 14 hits but only 3 total runs, all via the long ball. A solo homerun by Seiya Suzuki in the fifth broke a scoreless tie to put the Cubs in front 1-0. Another solo homerun by Suzuki in the seventh, his third of the season, made it 2-0, which would turn out to be the game-winner.
The Pirates made it interesting in the bottom of the eighth when Bryan Reynolds hit a solo homerun, his first of the season, to center field to cut the Cubs’ lead in half. But that is as close as Pittsburgh would get, as Chicago shut things down in the ninth to secure the victory.
This was a disappointing way to open the season at PNC Park for the Pirates. They will take the field against the Cubs again tomorrow afternoon as 12:35pm. Kyle Henricks will be on the mound for Chicago against Zach Thompson for Pittsburgh.
Record vs. Cubs: 0-1
Record vs. N.L. Central: 1-3
Record at Home: 0-1
Overall Record: 1-3
And…
As Always…
Let’s Go Bucs!
