In our daily Wake-Up Call, we get you ready for the day with a complete look at all things Pittsburgh Pirates.
Last night, the Pirates dropped a 13-5 decision to the Chicago Cubs as the main culprit was once again their struggling bullpen.
Starter Steven Brault didn’t pitch well, but settled down nicely after a four-run second inning and left with the game tied at four.
Tyler Glasnow, who has done some good things out of the Bucs pen this season, allowed four earned runs in two-thirds of an inning. Josh Smoker followed with four earned in 1.1 innings and Dovydas Neverauskas allowed an earned run in his only inning of work.
The Pirates have the worst bullpen ERA in all of baseball at 7.51. They’ve allowed a whopping 32 earned runs in 38.1 innings of work.
Sean Rodriguez gave the Bucs a 3-0 lead with a three-run dinger of Jon Lester in the second, but it didn’t last long as Javier Baez hit his third homer of the series off Brault in the bottom half of the second.
The Pirates tied the game at four in the fifth on an RBI single from Francisco Cervelli, but then the bullpen came in and was shelled.
Baez hit his fourth homer of the series in the eight, making him the first Cubs player with back-to-back multi homer games since Alfonso Soriano, who accomplished the feat from May 16-17, 2008.
Ian Happ also went yard for the Cubs while David Freese added a solo shot for the Bucs in the eighth.
The Pirates will try and take the series from Chicago when they play the rubber match this afternoon.
Trevor Williams (2-0, 1.59 ERA) gets the ball for the Bucs and will be opposed by Chicago’s Kyle Hendricks (0-0, 4.09). First pitch is scheduled for 2:20 PM.
Pirates Among MLB’s Top Earners
Here’s one that the protesters will love.
The Pirates rank among the highest earners in baseball, having made $35 million last year, according to Forbes , in rankings released Wednesday.
That ranks them the 10th among the 30 teams in Major League Baseball, behind the St. Louis Cardinals ($40 million).
With the way money hasn’t been spent, it’s only a matter of time before this becomes a topic of conversation about the Bucs and owner Bob Nutting.
#Bucsin280
After each Pittsburgh Pirates game, we take to our twitter to recap the game in 280 characters. Think of it as a snapshot need-to-know from the game. Here now is the #Bucsin280 from last night. Follow us on Twitter to see these in real time!
The #Cubs get hot late and beat the #Pirates 13-5. Baez smacked two more homers. Brault shaky over 5 giving up 4. Glasnow gives up a tough luck 4. Smoker got tagged with 4 more. Sean Rod with a 3-run homer early. Freese a solo shot late. Rubber game tomorrow afternoon. #BUCSin280
â Pirates Breakdown (@piratebreakdown) April 12, 2018
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Baseball talk on the web
- At Locked on Pirates, the latest episode of Canonballs dives into the Bucs bullpen woes
- Rangers SS Elvis Andrus suffers broken elbow on HBP
- Who are the MLB’s most underpaid stars?
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