Buc Bats Sleepwalk Through Another Loss 2-0

The Bucs went quietly in the first against Jon Lester, who got a little help - Austin Meadows was called out after a review overturn on his bid for an infield knock and Starling's dying liner in left was stabbed nicely by Kyle Schwarber. The Cubs opened with a HBP and double; Marte called off AM and then slipped (it had rained all morning in Chitown), allowing it to fall. A grounder and fly later, two runs that shouldn't have scored were on the board. Freeser & J-Bell walked with an out in the second; Gregory and S-Rod both went down swinging. The King ran hot and cold; he walked the first two hitters and fanned the next three. AM tripled with two gone in the third and was left on the pond. The Cubs managed a one-out single in their half. There was some drama as Amore took a foul to the jaw, but after the trainer checked him out, Cervy hung in there (however, he was replaced the next inning by Eli as a precautionary move). The fourth also went quietly, with the Cubbies adding a two-out single to the stat sheet. Both sides went down in order in the fifth and sixth innings.

Let's hope Cervy isn't too badly banged up.

The Pirates continued their slumber through the seventh; that's an unlucky 13-in-a-row gone down with one hit. Steven Brault took over after a one-out Cubby rap - it was a great 99-pitch outing by The King, who gave up four hits and but for some outfield folly should have put up a zero - and tucked Chi-town away. Justin Wilson grabbed the ball in the eighth and the Bucs continued to flounder as he whiffed a pair. The Cubs got a bleeder infield knock with two outs, and Clint called for Kyle Crick. He gave up a double followed by an intentional walk to load 'em up, but he escaped by serving a pop up. Steve Cishek was handed the ball in the ninth and surprise - a 1-2-3 inning; the Pirates closed out the game with a streak of 19 straight outs.

Lester was good; he stayed out of the hitting zone, working mostly down and around the edges. His team also made a couple of plays behind him and Clint didn't exactly put his best eight on the diamond, although he can't be blamed for J-Hay & later Cervy being out of action. The Bucs? They need badly someone or something to inject some spark into their play; they manage to do just enough to lose, dropping their last three games by a five-run margin. And though it's easy to rip on Clint, it's performance that's losing games; the Pirates roster just isn't as strong as some of the other clubs'.

Nice outing by Nick; one routine catch and we might still be playing.
(image source: Positively Pittsburgh)

Notes:

• Ivan Nova will come off the DL tomorrow and start; a corresponding roster move hasn't been announced yet.
• The Pirates have been shut out in three of the past six games and scored two or fewer runs in five of their last seven.
• Indianapolis hasn't fallen into the same malaise as the big team; they've won six in a row going into tonight's game.