Jamo, Backed By Cervy, Pablo & Joey O, Tame Cubs 5-1

Cole Hamels got two quick outs before J-Bell singled and Cervy followed with a towering blast to Waveland Avenue to give the Bucs a quick 2-0 jump. Jamo had a clean start. The Bucs went 1-2-3 in the second, with a couple of well-hit outs. The Cubs got a walk and nada else. Hamels cruised through the top of the order in the third with a couple of whiffs and a pop up. Cole got ahead 3-1, got a BP heater from JT and crushed it 437' over the center field wall to halve the lead. The next three Cubbies went quietly, go figure. Fran opened the fourth with a walk and an out later, Joey O dinked a double. J-Low fanned looking; two of the called strikes were off the plate; Hamels has benefitted from a way wide strike zone tonight from ump Alfonso Marquez. K-Man left them aboard with a can of corn to right. Chi-town went down w/o a peep; Javy Baez was rung up on a wide one, too. No noise from the Buccos in the fifth. The Cubs got a couple of dying-quail singles and an infield single jammed the sacks with two away, but Jamo got Ben Zobrist to roll one to J-Bell to escape. Amore got the infield single/throwing error combo to reach second with one gone in the sixth, and Joey O made it hurt with a two-out double the oppo way to make the score 3-1.

Can't ask for more out of Jamo (photo Pittsburgh Pirates)

The Cubs started their half with an infield knock and a four-pitch walk. A 4-6-3 DP relieved the pressure, but a walk left Baby Bruins on the corners before a whiff of Jason Heyward calmed that storm. Jaime Garcia took the hill in the seventh and walked Newman; Jamo bunted him up. After a second out, the lefty was swapped out for righty Steve Cishek with Pablo up. Reyes won, singling to left to score K-Man, with J-Bell drawing a walk before Fran bounced out. JT spun a clean frame. Randy Rosario took the ball in the eighth and after an out was replaced by righty Eric Mills to face Joey O; Clint sent up Colin instead. Mills got a whiff, walk and grounder to finish up the frame. Ric Rod was waved in. He was touched for a two-out infield rap but K'ed his way out of the inning. Brian Duensing took the bump in the ninth and gave up a one-out dinger to mighty mite Pablo to give the Buccos a 5-1 margin. Felipe Vazquez got the call, and after a leadoff single put the game to bed. RTJR.

...or from Cervy (photo Dave Arrigo/Pirates)

Jamo has been spectacular, mastering his slider and pitching chops, leaving runners and big innings in the dust. The Cubs, like the Brewers, are a big bopper team and keeping them in the yard is half the battle. Good win to start of the series, especially for the kids playing in front of 34,000 hostile fans instead of 3,400 friendlies, and it puts the Bucs three games over .500 after a lackluster set against the Brew Crew.

Notes:

• Pablo, Cervy and Joey O each had a pair of hits, all five RBI and four runs scored tonight.
• Jamo tossed his 21st straight start with 3-or-less runs; he's pretty much worked his way into the "ace" tier this year. 
• Jordan Luplow is 2-for-23 w/RISP and Kevin Newman is 4-for-21.
• There were no medical updates on Starling (unavailable tonight) or Edgar Santana.
• Sneaked a Fangraphs peek at what Cutch and Cole Train are doing this year. Andrew is hitting .250 w/19 HR with a wRC+ of 118, a bit below last year's 123, and his WAR dropped from 3.7 to 2.4. Interestingly, he went from -14 Defensive Runs Saved in center for the Pirates to +1 in right for SF/NY. Gerrit is 15-5/2.92 w/12.6 K per nine for the 'Stros after going 12-12/4.26 w/8.7 K with the Bucs; his WAR has jumped from 3.2 to 6.1.