One day after being no hit, but winning the game, the Pittsburgh Pirates headed to Wrigley Field for a three-game series against the Chicago Cubs. Pittsburgh has played well against Chicago so far in 2022 and hoped to build on a modest two game winning streak entering the series. The Cubs quickly ended any thought of that by scoring eight runs in the first inning on their way to a 9-0 victory.
The Pirates’ starting pitching has not been great this season, so much so that manager Derek Shelton has been using an “opener” every fifth day. That man has been Dillon Peters, who tonight would only last .2 innings. His final stat line read five runs on four hits with one walk. This would lead to former starter Bryse Wilson eating up the bulk of the innings tonight.
Wilson was slightly better on the mound, but the damage had already been done. He threw 5.1 innings and allowed four runs, three earned, with two walks and two strikeouts. Tyler Beede threw a scoreless seventh inning, allowing a walk and striking out a batter. Heath Hembree worked the eighth and allowed one hit to go with two strikeouts.
One day after getting no hit, Pittsburgh still didn’t do much with the lumber. They would collect only three hits on the night with Yoshi Tsutsugo, Michael Chavis, and Rodolfo Castro getting one apiece. To be fair, Chicago starter Wade Miley looked lights out over seven innings. Allowing just one hit with six strikeouts. He was replaced by Michael Rucker, who would pitch the final two innings, striking out one batter and giving up two hits during that time.
The numbers don’t lie folks, tonight was just plain ugly. Fortunately, it only counts as one loss and the Pirates have a chance to get back on the winning side of things tomorrow night against these same Cubs. It would be nice if the offense could get things going a bit to help out starter JT Brubaker, who has seen his ERA drop significantly since his first start of the year. First pitch is set for 7:40pm.
Record vs. Cubs: 4-3
Record vs. N.L. Central: 8-15
Record on the Road: 6-10
Overall Record: 15-20
And…
As Always…
Let’s Go Bucs!
