In his Pittsburgh Pirates debut lefty Tyler Anderson pitched pretty much as expected, not great and not terrible, as he allowed three runs in five full innings on five hits; which could have easily been more thanks to two more errors from a pair of Pirates, including Adam Frazier’s second in as many games. Anderson did strike out seven with a mix of pitches that had the Cubs batters guessing at times.
On the mound for Chicago was long time nemesis, Jake Arrieta, who benefited from a favorable strike zone in his Wrigley Field Homecoming; although his pitches did have good run and movement in spite of his decreased velocity. Through six innings of work he allowed regular soft contact, counting Kevin Newman’s bouncing base hit that accounted for the Pirates lone run on the day.
In relief of Anderson, the Pirates bullpen was not as stout as it had been on opening day, giving up a couple of insurance runs, walking two and striking out four as the Pirates fell to the Cubs by a score of 5 to 1 on Saturday Afternoon.
- After two games Gregory Polanco has just managed on hit, even though it could potentially have been scored an error, and is 1 for 8 on the season with four strikeouts.
- Rule 5 Pick, Luis Oviedo, acquired in a trade with the Mets, made his MLB debut; striking out one and not allowing a run in one inning of work.
- The Pirates struck out 12 times, while waking on once, in direct contrast of the first game of the series.
- After one at bat Ke’Bryan Hayes was removed from the game with left wrist soreness after an awkward swing and a slide back into first base.
- Prior to the game, when the Alternate Site Squad was announced, Cole Tucker and Jared Oliva were remarkably absent. Apparently they are still back in Florida, receiving additional instructions.
After an opening day win and a loss today, the Pirates and Cubs are back at it for the rubber match in the series. Mitch Keller puts his foot on the rubber against Zach Davies at 2:20 PM EST on a glorious Easter Sunday matchup.
Inside The Bucs Basement 