Bucs Broom Cubbies 9-5

Joe Musgrove gave up a walk and nothing else in the first. After two outs, Melky and Joey O singled off Jose Quintana. Pablo kept the parade going with a trip-trip-triple to give the Bucs an early 2-0 leg up on Chicago. Both sides went down quietly in the second. It was a 1-2-3 third for Chi-town. K-Man and Fraze opened with singles for the Bucs. An out later, Joey O doubled home a run and another crossed when the relay was muffed. The Cubs made up when Osuna was thrown out at the dish on a pretty bad send by Joey Cora, trying to score on Pablo's rap. Reyes went to second on the play and scored on Stall's knock. Moose spun a clean fourth. Erik Gonzalez led off with a leg hit, but Big Joe was swinging away and bounced into a DP and Newman fanned. David Bote dropped a fly single into center in the fifth for the Cubs first hit with no damage done. Joey O beat out an infield knock with two away, followed by a ground rule two-bagger by Pablo. That saved a run for a heartbeat; a Chicago throwaway quickly plated Osuna. Jake Elmore then singled Reyes home to make it 7-0.

Pablo had three hits tonight - photo Pittsburgh Pirates

The sixth started out rough - a catcher's interference was followed by a 3-2 walk, and a double brought both the free runners in. An out later, a broken bat single and grounder cut the lead to 7-3. Dwayne Underwood Jr took over and Corban Joseph welcomed him with a double; he scored after a bouncer and Fraze single. Adam stole second and tallied on Melky's two-bagger to end the frame at 9-3. Chris Stratton got the seventh. A leadoff single scored off a two-out double, followed by an RBI knock. Williams Jerez took the ball and put the inning to bed with a whiff. Dillon Maples tossed a quit frame. Jerez got a whiff and a walk in the eighth before Parker Merkel got the beckon. He did the job, serving up a DP ball. James Norwood gave up a walk but kept the score 9-5. Merkel spun a strong ninth, fanning the last two Cubbies. Raise the Roger.

Baseball is a funny game; the Cubs started the Pirates on a nine-game tailspin with a sweep, and the Bucs returned the favor, with Chicago now losers of nine in a row after being broomed. Vive la différence!

Notes:

• It was as unlikely a middle of the lineup as you'll ever find, but Melky, Joey O and Pablo each had three hits (all three doubled and Pablo tripled to finish a homer shy of a cycle) and ensemble scored five times and drove home four runs. Fraze had a pair of raps and K-Man collected a knock and a walk.
• Pittsburgh finished the year 8-11 against Chicago. The Bucs only won nine games total against Milwaukee and St. Louis.
• The announced attendance was 10,592 tonight.
• Joe Musgrove finished the year slashing 11-12/4.44 w/155 K in 31 starts covering 170-1/3 IP.
• Greg Brown opined from the booth that he thinks that Bryan Reynolds will in all likelihood be shut down for the final Reds set this weekend with his sore hammy.