On Friday, I went to the series opener for the Chicago Cubs vs the Pittsburgh Pirates. It was a very fun game, as the Cubs took a hard-earned W with some incredible pitching performances with both teams and some great early hitting by the Cubs that carried them to the win. I was really excited to see the Pirates back at Wrigley for the first time since they traded McCutchen and Cole. I was also excited to see the Pirates’s great rookie, Austin Meadows, for the first time.
The day was decent for baseball. It was cloudy, but it wasn’t very cold. Right before the game, it was raining for about 10 minutes, but it ceased and there was no rain for the rest of the game. I was excited for the game, as I hadn’t seen the Pirates at Wrigley Field since last year, and I thought the pitching mathcup should set up for a fun game. For the Cubs, it was Mike Montgomery and for the Pirates it was Chad Kuhl. I wsn’t very worried about the game, but I hoped that the matchup would go well, because the Cubs are barely behind the Brewers and I wante dto catch up to them. I was also excited, and somewhat confused, about the lineups.
Pittsburgh Pirates:
- Josh Harrison – 2B
- Austin Meadows – RF
- Starling Marte – CF
- Francisco Cervelli – C
- Corey Dickerson – LF
- David Freese – 1B
- Colin Moran – 3B
- Jordy Mercer – SS
- Chad Kuhl – SP
Chicago Cubs:
- Kris Bryant – 3B
- Jason Heyward – RF
- Ben Zobrist – 2B
- Anthony Rizzo – 1B
- Willson Contreras – C
- Albert Almora Jr. – CF
- Javier Báez – SS
- Ian Happ – LF
- Mike Montogomery – SP
Scoring began quickly in the first inning. Harrison led off in the top of the first, and singled on a groundball to short. Meadows came up next and singled to left field, bringing Harrison to third with no outs. Marte then came up next and flew out to Almora, but Harrison scored, giving the Pirates a 1-0 lead with a man on first and one out. Meadows then got caught stealing second, leaving no men on and two outs. Cervelli batted cleanup and grounded out to Bryant to end the half inning.
In the bottom of the first, Bryant started with a single to left field. Heyward then came up next, and drove a double down the line into left field, putting men on second and third with no outs. Zobrist then came up next and singled to center field, scoring Bryant and bringing Heyward to third, tieing the game at 1-1 and putting men on first and third with no outs. Rizzo then came up and flew out to Dickerson, scoring Heyward and bringing Zobrist to second, giving the Cubs a 2-1 lead. Contreras then came up and poped out to Freese, making it two outs with a man on second. Almora was then hit by the pitch, bringing runners to first and second with two outs. Báez then struck out swinging to end the inning.
Scoring resumed and ended in the bottom of the second. It started with Happ lining out to Marte, already giving the Cubs an out. Montgomery came up next and walked, putting a runner on first with one out. Bryant then came up and singled to short, putting Montgomery on second with one out. Heyward then singled to left field, loading the bases with one out. Zobrist then grounded into a force out to Harrison. Montgomery scored, Bryant made it to third, and Zobrist to first, giving the Cubs a 3-1 lead with men on first and third with two outs. Rizzo then came up next, and struck out swinging.
For the final three outs of the game, the Cubs relied on Pedro Strop for the close. It started with Moran singling to right field. Next a wild pitch brought Moran to second with no outs. Mercer then struck out swinging, so there was a runner on second with one out. Gregory Polanco then came up as a pinch hitter for Dovydas Neverauskas and he grounded out to Báez, putting a runner on third with two outs. Harrison then came up next and hit a fly ball to left field, and Happ made a spectacular catch to end the game and give the Cubs a 3-1 win.
Game Performances:
Pittsburgh Pirates:
Hitting:
- Josh Harrison – 2-5, 1 R, 2 1B
- Austin Meadows – 2-4, 1 SO, 2 1B
- Starling Marte – 0-2, 1 RBI, 1 BB, 1 SO
- Francisco Cervelli – 0-3, 1 BB, 1 SO
- Corey Dickerson – 1-4, 1 1B
- David Freese – 1-4, 1 1B
- Colin Moran – 2-4, 1 2B, 1 1B
- Jordy Mercer – 1-3, 1 SO, 1 2B
- Chad Kuhl – 0-2
- Josh Bell – 0-1
- Gregory Polanco – 0-1
Pitching:
- Chad Kuhl – 5.1 IP, 8 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 2 BB, 6 SO
- Edgar Santana – 0.2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 2 SO
- Dovydas Neverauskas – 2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 3 SO
Chicago Cubs:
Hitting:
- Kris Bryant – 3-4, 1 R, 1 SO, 3 1B
- Jason Heyward – 2-4, 1 R, 1 2B, 1 1B
- Ben Zobrist – 1-3, 2 RBI, 1 BB, 1 SO, 1 1B
- Anthony Rizzo – 0-3, 1 RBI, 3 SO
- Willson Contreras – 2-4, 1 SO, 2 1B
- Albert Almora Jr. – 1-3, 1 SO, 1 1B
- Javier Báez – 0-3, 1 SO
- Ian Happ – 0-3, 1 SO
- Mike Montgomery – 0-1, 1 R, 1 BB, 1 SO
- Tommy La Stella – 0-1, 1 SO
Pitching:
- Mike Montgomery – 6 IP, 7 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 1 SO
- Cory Mazzoni – 0.2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 0 SO
- Randy Rosario – 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 2 SO
- Pedro Strop – 1.1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 1 SO
The MLB Enthusiast 