In our daily Wake-Up Call, we get you ready for the day with a complete look at all things Pittsburgh Pirates.
The Pirates lost their fourth straight game to fall back to .500 with last night’s 1-0 loss to the Chicago Cubs. They are now 61-61 on the season and 6.5 games back of the second wild card. The San Francisco Giants and Washington Nationals have now matched the Pirates in the standings with identical records.
In case you were wondering, the Pirates fell to 10 games back of the division lead with last night’s loss.
Ivan Nova pitched well, allowing just one run in 6.2 innings on an Ian Happ home run. The offense was lifeless though as the Pirates could only scatter six hits, none of which were for extra bases.
Kevin Newman made his major league debut entering late in the game as a defensive replacement. He did not appear at the plate. I would imagine he will get a chance to start at some point in this series.
The Pirates’ play over the last week has been reminiscent of the awful play earlier this season in May and June. When the Pirates score runs, the pitching falls apart. When the pitching locks it down, the offense falls asleep.
The Pirates will face yet another lefty tonight when Cole Hamels take the mound for the Cubs. In his Cubs debut against the Pirates, Hamels tossed five shutout innings while striking out nine. Trevor Williams starts for the Pirates tonight. He last faced the Cubs on April 12 when he threw six innings of one run ball in a win.
Saturday and Sunday will feature more left-handed starters from the Cubs when Mike Montgomery and Jose Quintana take the hill. The Pirates have not had much luck against lefties this year.
Baseball talk on the web
- Jose Urena was suspended for beaning Ronald Acuna Jr.
- The Rangers turned a triple play.
- Andrew McCutchen talks brawls.
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