NEWSLETTER
The Cubs win the game after a nice little comeback, but it’s always hard to get as into a win when the Cubs lost a player – Nico Hoerner, hamstring – along the way.
Joc Pederson hit two dingers tonight to propel the comeback, with Anthony Rizzo singling home Javy Báez for the lead run. Down 3-0 early, it was nice to see the Cubs do enough to get the win against a very, very beatable opponent.
Jake Arrieta was getting knocked around early before settling in a bit, which is not really what you want to see against this year’s Pirates. Cruising through innings three through five were nice and helped give the Cubs’ bats a chance to come back, but three earned over five innings (five hits, one walk) against this year’s Pirates is not a great outing.
The bullpen clamped down from there, as it does, with Craig Kimbrel of all guys probably offering up the scariest moment. Cole Tucker roped a double to lead off the 9th, representing the tying run, before Kimbrel went fly out, strike out, groundout to get the save.
