Bucs Broomed 8-3

It was a quiet first frame; Jose Quintana gave up a knock to Bryan Reynolds while Trevor Williams tucked the Cubs away. There was no Bucco noise in the second; the Cubs got three hits, but a DP in the middle held them to one run. With an out in the third, Willy, K-Man and Reynolds singled to plate a run; a wild pitch followed by a Starling sac fly brought home a second, and Jung Ho's two-bagger tallied a third. Willy gave up a walk but put up a zippo. Pittsburgh took a walk in the fourth. Willy gave up a two-out double, intentionally walked the next guy, and Q spoiled the strategy with a rap to make it 3-2. The Pirates went quietly in the fifth. The Cubs went to work. Two singles (one that was playable by J-Bell, who went to first instead as the ball scooted into right; maybe a communication issue w/Fraze) and a sac fly scored one, then Jason Heyward bombed a two-out, two-run homer to put Chi-town up 5-3.

Bryan had two raps; he's hitting .336 - image Pittsburgh Pirates

The Bucs got a K, Corey D knock and Eli 4-6-3 DP in the sixth. Clint sent Willy back out. The ol' skipper has had a lot of one-inning-too-long backfires lately, and this became another as the Baby Bruins blasted back-to-back dingers and a rap before Ric Rod was waved in. He was tapped for a bloop single and sac fly to make it 8-3. Brandon Kintzler took the ball in the seventh and gave up consecutive knocks to Redbeard and K-Man. He escaped thx to another 4-6-3 DP, this one from Reynolds. Frankie took the hill and gave up a walk but no more runs. Kyle Ryan climbed the hill for the eighth and 1-2-3'ed the Pirates. Felipe came on for some work, and it was thankfully quick; a whiff, a walk and a DP after 10 tosses. Tyler Chatwood got the ninth inning. He got a pair of at 'em ball outs before Fraze doubled. A bouncer ended it.

The short and simple of it is that the pitching has to get better; three starters (Willy, Lyles and Archie) have ERA's over five. The hitting was bound to regress. So on to St. Louis, hopefully not for a last stand.

Notes:

• Kevin Newman and Bryan Reynolds each had a pair of hits; the team had seven raps.
• Since he's come off the DL, Willy has made five starts lasting 22-2/3 IP and given up 24 earned runs; his ERA has shot from 3.33 to 5.17. 
• Jose Quintana had two hits today; he was batting .030 (lifetime .052) with one knock coming into the game with an OPS+ of minus 84. His RBI was his first of the campaign.
• The Bucs travel to St. Louis after today to open a three-game stand v the Redbirds before coming home Friday to meet the Phils.