I’m certain that I wrote something similar at this point almost exactly a year ago, but when a season starts like this one, there comes a point at which you stop worrying about the standings and the number of games behind you, are start worrying solely about your own business and hope that something that’s beyond your control breaks in your favor at some point.
I think the Pirates probably hit that point with this game today. A win today doesn’t really erase the first five losses to the Cubs and it doesn’t make the climb from second place back up to the Cubs a whole lot easier, but it at the very least feels like something to build off of.
After five games of the Cubs teeing off on Pirate pitching, Gerrit Cole took the mound this afternoon and did what Gerrit Cole is supposed to do. Jon Lester no-hit the Pirates for six innings, but Cole matched him zero for zero, and did it without breaking much of a sweat. That meant that when Starling Marte singled to break up the no-hitter, stole second, and scored on a Jung Ho Kang double, the Pirates took a 1-0 lead instead of trailing 6-1. Unlike Jeff Locke yesterday, Cole stayed at 11 after getting the lead. He put the Cubs down on seven pitches in the seventh and eight pitches in the eighth and only came out of the game for a pinch-hitter in the ninth because the Pirates had a chance to stretch their lead out beyond the 2-0 that Jung Ho Kang’s homer gave them.
Kang is worth a mention here, too; he drove in both runs and his home run was a ridiculous quick turn on an inside pitch to get the fat part of the bat on the ball and send it into the stands. The Pirate lineup was good without Kang, it’s terrifying with him and with Andrew McCutchen rounding into shape.
The Pirates are 19-17. They play the Braves next. They don’t play the Cubs again for another month. Let’s not think about them until then.
Photo by Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images
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