The Pittsburgh Pirates ran into a juggernaut masquerading as the Chicago Cubs and were outclassed in the first meeting of 2016.
The Pittsburgh Pirates took two of three from the Cincinnati Reds, but that series felt like the calm before the storm as almost everyone had their eyes set on the first series with the surging Chicago Cubs.
Who could blame them? The Cubs ended the Pirates’ season in 2015 and are the odds on favorites to win the World Series this season. It’s the first of many games with the Cubs this season and everyone was excited to see how the Pirates would match up.
Round one of this series went to the Cubs by way of knock out. There’s no way around that. Lets see where it all went wrong.
Game One: Gerrit Cole (2-2, 2.78ERA) vs. Jason Hammel (3-0, 0.75ERA)
Result: Pirates lose 7-2
Winning Pitcher: Jason Hammel (4-0, 1.24ERA)
Losing Pitcher: Gerrit Cole (2-3, 3.95ERA)
- What went right:
- Jordy Mercer reached base four times as he went 3-3 with a walk and a run scored.
- Andrew McCutchen hit his sixth home run of the season. He finished the game 1-4 with a home run, two RBI and one run scored.
- Kyle Lobstein helped save the bullpen and did a fairly good job. He went three innings, allowed one run on three hits.
- Gregory Polanco went 1-4 with a double.
- What went wrong:
- Gerrit Cole was not very sharp and he lacked command in a big way. He lasted on 4.2 innings, allowed six runs (five earned) on six hits and walked four.
- Dexter Fowler was a force all night. He went 2-4 with a walk and a run scored.
- Anthony Rizzo went 2-5 with one RBI and one run scored.
- Cubs’ bullpen completely shutdown the Pirates as Adam Warren, Justin Grimm, Pedro Strop and Travis Wood combined to go four innings, allowed zero runs on two hits and struck out six.
The Pirates played their second consecutive sloppy game and the Cubs took advantage of their mistakes. Gerrit Cole was not ace-like and never really got into any sort of groove. Not quite ready to push the panic button on him, but he needs to get it together and soon.
The Pirates looked to bounce back against Jake Arrieta in game two. Not exactly the easiest of challenges.
Game Two: Jon Niese vs. Jake Arrieta
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