In our daily Wake-Up Call, we get you ready for the day with a complete look at all things Pittsburgh Pirates.
The Bucs finally got back on track for at least one day behind the arm, bat and base running of Joe Musgrove, who impressed for the second consecutive outing as the Bucs defeated the Chicago Cubs 2-1 Wednesday night at PNC Park.
Musgrove (2-0, 0.64 ERA) went seven strong innings, allowing one run on seven hits while walking four and striking out five.
He had to escape some trouble in the first as the Cubs took a 1-0 lead on a Javier Baez single, but that’s all Musgrove allowed on the night.
Josh Harrison opened the bottom of the first with his second homer of the season and Gregory Polanco added a sac fly that scored Corey Dickerson in the second to make it a 2-1 game.
Polanco went 0-for-3 on the night extending his hitless drought to 21 at bats, but he came through with a productive at bat that ended up producing the winning run.
Musgrove made that stand up through seven.
Kyle Crick pitched an impressive eighth inning and the Cubs put the go-ahead run on base against Felipe Vazquez in the ninth, but Vazquez got Kris Bryant to ground out to end the game.
Musgrove also added a hit for the second consecutive game, picked off Addison Russell at second base and his hard slide into second base emptied the benches.
All in all it was another productive night for Musgrove.
Colin Moran had three hits for the Bucs.
UP NEXT
The Bucs open up a four-game set in St. Louis as Trevor Williams (5-3, 3.43) will face the Cardinals RHP Jack Flaherty (2-1, 2.15). Williams looks to right the ship as he carries a 4.14 ERA in his last eight starts.
Clint Hurdle‘s pregame speech will go a little something like this:
OK, we won a game yesterday. If we win today, it’s called “two in a row”. And if we win again tomorrow, it’s called a “winning streak”… It has happened before!
#BUCSin280
#RAISEIT The #Pirates won a game! They beat the #Cubs 2-1 snapping a 4-game losing streak. Musgrove was MusGREAT tossing 7 innings of 1 run ball. Crick and Vazquez slammed the door shut. Harrison hit a solo home run. Dickerson triples and scored on a Polanco sac fly. #BUCSin280
— Pirates Breakdown (@piratebreakdown) May 31, 2018
Daily Links
- Max Scherzer wins No. 150
- Locked On Pirates looks at some matchups to watch for the Cards series
- Trade predictions two months before deadline
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