The Pittsburgh Pirates traveled to Chicago with revenge on their minds and left with a potential moral victory despite the series loss.
The Pirates split a rain shortened series against the Reds and have gone 3-2 to start their road trip. The Pirates end their trip by taking on the Chicago Cubs looking for a little revenge after the Cubs dominated the Bucs in Pittsburgh earlier this season.
I am of the belief there really aren’t any overly important series in early May, but the Cubs have dominated the Pirates and it hasn’t been much of a challenge for them, so it’s important that the Pirates start to show a little life against their NL Central rivals.
They opened the series with Francisco Liriano taking on Jason Hammel. Things didn’t go well…
Game One: Francisco Liriano (3-1, 3.60ERA) vs. Jason Hammel (4-0, 1.85ERA)
Result: Pirates lose 9-4
Winning Pitcher: Jason Hammel (5-0, 1.77ERA)
Losing Pitcher: Francisco Liriano (3-2, 4.99ERA)
- What went right:
- Andrew McCutchen had a fantastic game. He went 3-5 with a home run, two RBI and a run scored.
- Gregory Polanco reached base four times as he went 2-3 with two walks and a run scored.
- Starling Marte completed the outfield trifecta by also having a multi-hit effort. He went 2-5 with a run scored.
- Francisco Liriano had another hit, which proved to be the highlight of his day.
- What went wrong:
- Francisco Liriano was terrible. He went 4.2 innings, allowed eight runs on nine hits and walked four.
- Kris Bryant was a force as he went 2-4 with a home run, two RBI and a run scored.
- Jason Hammel pitched very well for the Cubs. He went 6.2 innings, allowed two runs (one earned) on eight hits and struck out eight.
- David Ross had maybe his best game of the season as he went 3-4 with a home run, three RBI, and two runs scored.
The Cubs continued their mastery over the Pirates as they once again dominated the Pirates to open this series. So far in 2016, it’s been the same game over and over again with the Cubs scoring early and often before embarrassing the Pirates.
The Pirates looked to respond with Jeff Locke taking on Jake Arrieta in maybe the biggest pitching mismatch of the season.
Game Two: Jeff Locke vs. Jake Arrieta
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