NEWSLETTER
No sweep. Boo. Winning a series is always good, but the one where you win the first two and lose the finale is worst version of good.
The Pirates pitched really well in this one, and the Cubs’ bats just didn’t get going. It didn’t even feel like there was a lot of peril tonight for the Pirates, who held the Cubs to just three total at bats with runners in scoring position.
No huge moment tonight for Christopher Morel in his starting debut, though he had some nice plays at third, and also got a base hit with two outs in the 9th after a good at bat to keep the game alive. It was nice to see, if nothing else.
Drew Smyly wasn’t necessarily “bad” tonight, but when he lost his command a bit in the third, the Pirates went knock-knock-knock with two outs to plate a couple runs. He got through the fourth with ease, but the pitch count was climbing, and he wasn’t able to finish the fifth. Overall, there wasn’t a lot of efficiency, particularly because of a lot of non-competitive balls – he was otherwise getting a ton of whiffs. Mixed bag, I guess.
Great work tonight by the Cubs bullpen, though, including Scott Effross bridging, Chris Martin and Mychal Givens looking typically solid, Rowan Wick looking really nasty, and David Robertson picking right back up where he left off.
