In the 2nd inning yesterday, the Pirates quickly recorded two outs, with Kyle Schwarber grounding out and Willson Contreras striking out. Quick, smooth inning coming for pitcher Jameson Taillon, right?
But then his young shortstop, Kevin Newman, threw one away, allowing Daniel Descalso to reach with two outs. The Pirates intentionally walked Jason Heyward to get to Jon Lester … and that’s when everything fell apart for them, and went swimmingly for the Cubs:
Thanks to the two-out error that preceded all of the scoring, every single one of those six runs was unearned, giving Taillon a crazy line: 2.0 IP, 4 H, 6 R, 0 ER, 2 BB, 4 K. Hopefully he’s OK after the ball to the noggin.
As for the Cubs, it was good to see them put the foot down and take advantage of another team’s mistakes, instead of the other way around. Good inning. Good game. Good win.