9-5-21 – By Gary Morgan – @garymo2007 on Twitter
Yoshi Tsutsugo was the second batter in this game, and who knew he was creating a theme for the entire contest.
The Cubs answered with two in the second off starter Wil Crowe.
Then the Pirates batted around and got this from Bryan Reynolds.
Problem is, the Pirates still had Wil Crowe pitching and the Cubs themselves batted around and scored 5.
The Pirates battled back to tie it at 7 in the top of the 5th. Twice they stranded the bases loaded on top of all that.
Eventually the Cubs stunk enough to will the Pirates into taking the lead 8-7 in the 6th. I mean sure it was Reynolds with his 4th hit of the day who came around to score, but have I mentioned what a brutal game this has been yet?
I’ve watched about 135 Pirates games this season, and this contest was collectively the worst representation of what baseball is supposed to look like I’ve seen. The Cubs and Pirates each just didn’t have it today. At least on the mound. Yeah the wind was blowing, yes both teams have poor rosters, this was somehow still awful.
Anthony Banda and Shea Spitzbarth combined to toss two precarious scoreless innings.
Things were getting dicey in the 7th, runners at 1st and 2nd, then Ben Gamel stepped up to make sure they held the lead.
You might not see a finer catch all year. Insane effort for a team that looked just fine with losing all weekend.
Howard would still proceed to load the bases yet again before being lifted in favor of Nick Mears. Frank Schwindel hit a ball that nearly bounced into the basket for another Grand Slam. 11-8 Cubs.
If you were looking for a low point in this rebuild, this series is it. I expected to lose to the Sox, I expected to look like the team that still had some answers against the Cubs, instead we got one of the sloppiest series I’ve ever seen.
11-8 Cubs, final. 4 game sweep at the hands of the Chicago Cubs, brutal.
News & Notes
- 179 games without a passed ball. I can’t think of a more inane record to talk about 20 times a game. It’s a good thing, don’t get me wrong but if that’s what you got, just stop.
- Bryan Reynolds hit his first career Grand Slam in today’s game, part of a 4 hit effort
- Yoshi Tsutsugo hit another homerun today, that makes 7 so far in fairly limited action. If they wanted to know what he could bring to the table, he’s answered. Now what?
- Wil Crowe today 7 ER in 3 IP. Worse, he looked like he wasn’t excited to throw the next pitch. Young guys struggling is nothing new, young guys looking defeated should not happen. Poor outing, worse effort today.
- Sam Howard has not looked right since returning from the IL. Nothing is going where he wants it. This was one of the few bullpen arms that seemed like a lock to stick, now he’s going to have to rebound.
- The Pirates decided to give Oviedo an inning and again, scoreless. Might want to you know, start using him like he’s on the roster.
- There is not being good enough, and then there’s what we watched in Chicago. Embarrassing doesn’t begin to cover this series. They have enough to beat this Cubs team, but ill timed and costly mistakes cost them 4 nights in a row.
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