Pittsburgh Pirates Takeaways & Throwaways – Blanked in Wrigley

The Pittsburgh Pirates dropped a second consecutive game to the Chicago Cubs with a shut out loss on Tuesday. Here are the takeaways and throwaways from the 3-0 defeat.

Takeaways

• The Pirates did not have much going on during Tuesday’s contest, but they did receive a good, but not great, start from Chad Kuhl. Kuhl gave up a two run homer to Anthony Rizzo in the first and a run scoring single to Miguel Montero in the second, but settled down after that. Not known as a strikeout pitcher, Kuhl recorded two strikeouts in both the fourth and fifth frames. If the rotation stays as it is now, Kuhl’s next start will come on Labor Day against the St. Louis Cardinals.
• Andrew McCutchen was one of the few players to record a hit off of Kyle Hendricks, giving him a modest eight game hitting streak and gradually bringing his batting average up. He continues to look more comfortable at the plate and is hitting the ball with authority, so perhaps all that worrying was for not.

Throwaways

• Josh Bell showed his defensive limitations in the third inning when Kris Bryant hit a pop up into shallow right field. With Josh Harrison out of position because of a defensive shift, it was up to Bell to make the play. He twisted around and made a questionable route to the ball before falling to the ground and missing the ball. Not only did he miss it, but Bryant was running full speed and made it to second base. This is another example of why Bell has been removed late in games, which is a shame given his potential at the plate.
• In the fourth inning Hendricks was able to get Josh Harrison leaning the wrong way and picked him off first. While getting picked off is always bad, it is especially devastating against the league’s ERA leader. With runs (and base runners) being a premium in a contest like this, mistakes such as this are magnified.

W – Kyle Hendricks (13-7)

L – Chad Kuhl (3-2)

S – Aroldis Chapman (31)

#Pirates lose 3-0. Who is your Player of the Game in the loss?

— Jason Rollison (@jrollisonpgh) August 31, 2016

Line of the Night

Once again the Line of the Night goes to the starter for the Cubs.

Hendricks was brilliant on Tuesday, giving the Cubs seven shutout innings while limiting the Pirates to just three hits. He allowed one walk and struck out four, lowering his league leading ERA to 2.09. Hopefully the Pirates avoid him when the Cubs visit PNC Park during the last week of September.

Up Next

The three game series wraps up on Wednesday at 8:05pm with Ryan Vogelsong  (3-3, 3.02) and Jason Hammel (13-7, 3.21) taking the mound for their clubs. Vogelsong has been very good since returning from injury, only allowing more than three runs in a start since August 4th. Hammel’s last two starts, both on the road, were very short as he did not finish four innings in either game. However, in his last four starts at home, he has allowed just one run, so the Pirates will need to be selective at the plate.