The Pittsburgh Pirates Bats Exploded for 10 Hits and 6 Runs As The Pirates Beat The Cubs In The Finale Of Their Three-Game Series.
Welcome to Takeaways & Throwaways. Shortly after every Pittsburgh Pirates game, come to Pirates Breakdown to see our flash recap format. We’ll tell you everything you need to know about the game, without making you read the same boring recap you can see anywhere else.
Sponsored By
FINAL: Pittsburgh Pirates 6, Chicago Cubs 5
W- Wade LeBlanc (1-0, 3.18 ERA) L- Jon Lester (0-1, 3.68 ERA) S- Tony Watson (7)
Takeaways-
- The Pirates get a Gift, Ngoepe that is! To add some depth to a bench depleted by injury and suspension, Pittsburgh called up infielder Gift Ngoepe for Wednesday night’s game against the Cubs. When Ngoepe entered the game in the top of the fourth inning as part of a double switch, he became the first player from the continent of Africa to appear in a Major League Baseball game. In Ngoepe’s first at bat, he reached base on a single while in his second he reached on a walk.
- Offense comes alive- For the first time since Saturday’s loss against the New York Yankees the Pirates eclipsed scoring five or more runs. Pittsburgh roughed up Cubs starter Jon Lester with a multitude of extra base hits in the first two innings with Josh Harrison homering, and Francisco Cervelli, Phil Gosselin, and Andrew McCutchen all doubling to score runs as they put five runs on the board. Josh Bell would launch a 424-foot home run off Lester in the bottom of the sixth.
- Escape artists- Pirates pitchers were able to escape from multiple jams against the Cubs as the defending World Champions left a total of 13 runners over nine innings on base. The bullpen would wind up allowing two while working 5.2 innings of work.
Throwaways
- Tyler Glasnow managed to allow only three earn runs, however, he failed to last more than four innings as he lasted a mere 3 and 1/3 innings Wednesday night. Glasnow struck out four and walked four as his ERA climbed from 7.94 to 7.98. It was the second start in a row where Glasnow limited the damage done to him by runners on the base paths, but wasn’t able to fall in line for a victory.
- Anthony Rizzo drilled a Daniel Hudson pitch half-way up the bleachers in right field during the eighth inning. Hudson gave up two hits and two earned runs while only managing to get two outs in the eighth before Tony Watson entered the game. With Wednesday’s performance, Hudson’s ERA ballooned up to 5.59.
Line Of The Day
Josh Harrison has been knocked by many for his defense this season, but with his performance Wednesday night, he has brought his average up to .308 good for second on the team behind David Freese and his .321 average. Harrison went 2 for 3 from the lead-off spot in the order tonight with a home run, single, an RBI and a walk while scoring twice.
Vote in Our Player Of the Game Poll
After each game, win or lose, Pirates Breakdown will ask YOU for your Pittsburgh Pirates player of the game. Hop over to our twitter to cast your vote!
The Pirates beat the Cubs 6-5, who is your Player of the Game?
— Jason Rollison (@jrollisonpgh) April 27, 2017
Up Next
The Pittsburgh Pirates have Thursday off as they travel to South Beach to take on the Miami Marlins in a three-game series set to begin Friday night at 7:05 PM. Set to pitch for the Pirates during the series will be Jameson Taillon in game-one and Ivan Nova in game-two while a third starter has yet to be named. It is expected game-three will feature Chad Kuhl on the rubber for the Buccos.
Add The Sports Daily to your Google News Feed!
