Pittsburgh Pirates Takeaways & Throwaways – Inching Closer to Elimination

The Pittsburgh Pirates were handed a 12-2 loss by the Chicago Cubs on Monday night. Here are the takeaways and throwaways from another defeat as the season comes to a close.

Takeaways

• Obviously in a game like this, not much went well. But Zach Phillips turned in two good innings when he relieved Chad Kuhl, as he allowed just one hit and struck out two. His ERA at the major league level is still a pristine 0.00 and could get some seriously consideration for a bullpen role in 2017.
• There was not much offense on Monday, but Matt Joyce and David Freese had back-to-back home runs in the eighth inning, both connecting for their 13th home runs of the season. It’s great to see two players who were brought in late to spring training contributing this late in the season. With Freese already signed for next season, it will be interesting to see ig the team can bring Joyce back, although he’ll certainly have his suitors this winter.

Throwaways

• After two quality starts Chad Kuhl was hit hard by the Chicago Cubs, giving up five runs on eight hits over just three innings of work. Most of the damage came off the bat of Javier Baez, who blasted a grand slam in the fourth. If there is one positive from Kuhl’s start, it’s that he threw 51 of his 84 pitches for strikes. But he’ll need to be much more efficient the next time out against the St. Louis Cardinals on Saturday.
• Steven Brault was used in a relief role on Monday and like the starter Kuhl, he was hit around. Brault pitched just one and two thirds innings and gave up seven runs (three earned) on six hits and three walks. While he did strike out three, Brault had one of the worst performances in his young career. Both Brault and Kuhl will get a look for a spot in the starting rotation next season, so a poor showing against the best team in baseball should not take them out of consideration next spring.

W – Kyle Hendricks (16-8)

L – Chad Kuhl (5-4)

The #Pirates fall to the #Cubs tonight 12-2. Who was your Player of the Game?

— Jason Rollison (@jrollisonpgh) September 27, 2016

Line of the Night

Tonight’s Line of the Night goes to Kyle Hendricks, who turned in a beauty of a start.

Hendricks lowered his ERA to 1.99 after he shut out the Pirates over his six innings of work. He allowed seven hits but did not walk a batter and struck out five. The Cubs will count on Hendricks to round out their rotation in October and will give them one of the most dominant rotations this postseason.

Up Next

The second game of the series starts on Tuesday at 7:05pm when Ryan Vogelsong (3-6, 4.85) and John Lackey (10-8, 3.39) take the mound for their clubs. Vogelsong has been struggling as of late, as he has not registered a quality start since August 21st. He did strike out seven in four innings last time out, so perhaps Vogelsong is on the right track. Lackey on the other hand has been the work horse the Cubs wanted him to be, finishing seven innings of work in ech of his last two starts.