Quintana Outduels Big Joe 2-0 Thanks To Cold Bats, Muffed Pop

Jose Quintana is on  fire to start; he struck out the side, getting Starling and Cervy on three pitches; looks like the pitchers will get the benefit of a low strike tonight from ump Mike Estabrook. Big Joe Musgrove countered with a clean, 10 pitch frame. The second was quiet for both clubs, with J-Bell's walk all the action. The Pirates had runners on the corners with an out in the third when Big Joe reached on a strikeout/wild pitch and Fraze singled behind him. But that third base/less than two outs thing reared up again; Marte K'ed for the second time (he's seen seven pitches) and the inning fizzled. The Cubbies banged out a Victor Caratini two-bagger, but he stayed anchored at second. The Pirates got a J-Bell single in the fourth, but with an out, he was picked off trying to jump off too quickly; of course, Melky singled after him, but the scoreboard remained blank. Melky was frisky in right, making a diving catch to take extra bases away from Kris Bryant to trigger a calm frame. Fraze got his second hit with two away in the fifth to no avail. Lots of Cub action - a walk, single, double steal and Joe Maddon ejection over a strike call beef (actually he didn't act up that badly...guessing there was some dugout yapping prior), but it led to nada.

Big Joe - my kingdom for a glove (photo Joe Guzy/Pittsburgh Pirates)

It was 1-2-3 for the Pirates in the sixth; Q has nine whiffs. It was another busy but fruitless frame for Chicago. A walk, single and grounder put Cubs at second and third with an out; Javy Baez then smacked one up the line on the contact play. JHK gloved it, got the runner at home and then Cervy tagged Baez, who didn't run it out because he thought it was fouled off his foot (didn't look like it on TV), to get Big Joe out of trouble. Q picked up a couple more K's in a smooth seventh; he's at 99 pitches. Pittsburgh let a harmless pop fall for two bases in the wind and drizzle; Kang had it in his glove and lost it, though Gonzo got charged with the error; it was his ball. Daniel Descalso blooped the run in, going to second when Pablo missed the cutoff. Frankie came in and gave up a double to make it 2-0. He followed with a walk before shutting the gate. The eighth saw the tarp come out at the umps' behest; there's some rain but the delay is due to the lightning fireworks in the sky. After an hour and some change delay, the tarp was rolled up and the game was on.

Steve Cishek came on to face J-Mart and K'ed him fishin' for a couple that were way off after a wide strike call on the first offering. Fraze whiffed, too, before Starling doubled, but Cervy couldn't cash him in. Nick Burdi took the ball and tossed a clean frame with two K's. Pedro Strop came in sniffing for the save, and three batters later, had it.

Gonzo is still working on that first impression (photo Elsa/Getty)

The Pirates may not have scored all night, but they have to help themselves if they're gonna be small-ballin'. We're kinda hoping that Cole Tucker shows up in May; shortstop is a black hole now, and it might not hurt to push Ke'Bryan Hayes arrival up a bit, too - third base and short have committed nine errors already, and on a team that's going to win-or-lose on pitching, that's a big weight to carry. Offensively, the team is going to struggle until Gregory and Corey return to lengthen the lineup. The base running is living on the edge as Clint and company try to stretch it to help the attack. Ah well...keep grinding and on to Washington.

Notes:

• Kevin Kramer made it to Wrigleyville in time for tonight's game. Not sure about his role; despite hearing FO noise about him getting some OF looks at Indy, he's been used exclusively at 2B through the opening six games.
• The Pirates struck out 14 times tonight. They've struck out 95 times in 11 games, but in 2019 baseball, that puts them among the lower-fanned teams by K%.
• Pirates shortstops have committed six errors (three each by Gonzo and Newman); Fraze, Colin Moran and J-Bell have added six more. The infield's not exactly airtight...
• Kyle Schwarber broke a streak of six straight whiffs when he grounded out in the seventh.
• Ke'Bryan Hayes had a homer and two doubles in Indy's 7-3 win tonight. Mitch Keller had another shaky outing, giving up three runs in four innings on eight hits and a walk, with three K.
• An RBI is an RBI - Harrison Bader of the Cards was hit by a pitch twice with the bases loaded today, something that has happened only four times in the last 40 seasons, with the last occurrence in 2005. St. Louis outscored the Dodgers 11-7; those timely bops were the only time Bader reached safely. Watch out for the Redbirds; they've won 7-of-9 after sweeping the four-game set from LA.
• Extensions keep on comin' - The Braves Ozzie Albies signed seven-year/$35M deal that also includes two option years for 2026 and 2027. Sure is a sweet deal for Atlanta; we think Albies left a bunch of greenbacks on the table for the security.