Bucs Snap Streak At Nine, Whup Cubs 9-2

Mitch got the first two outs easily, then a single/double/walk packed the sacks. He whiffed his way out of the jam at the cost of 23 pitches. K-Man reached on a boot and stole second, but Kyle Hendricks had no problem working around Newman. Keller tossed a clean second. Kevin Kramer got aboard on a two-out misplay, but pressed his luck and was tossed out at second. Ya can't even hand the Bucs an inning. The Cubs stranded a pair in the third; the Pirates went down without a peep. A single and Nick Hoerner double chased home the game's first run for Chicago in the fourth; Pittsburgh was handed a third free runner via error and again, nada.. The Baby Bruins left runners at second and third in the fifth; Mitch has had the big K today when he's needed it. Hendricks cruised through his half. Chris Stratton got the call in the sixth as Kells was at 92 pitches, and tossed a clean frame. Newman broke up the no-hitter with a one-away single; an out later, he was picked off first.

Mitch finished up on a high note - photo Dave Arrigo/Pirates

Frankie Liriano spun a 1-2-3 seventh. Fraze doubled to leadoff, and Joey O legged out a rap to put Bucs on the corners. Redbeard knocked in a run and Stall's rap jammed the sacks. Kevin Kramer doubled in a pair, and a muff at second on Erik Gonzalez's bouncer leaked a couple of more runs home. Joe Maddon finally decided to bring in a new arm, David Phelps. He gave up a Pablo single and grounder, leaving Bucs on the corners for Danny Hultzen, and he threw away a tailor-made DP ball off B-Rey's bat to make it 6-1. Fraze singled home another Bucco, and Joey O walked to juice the bases. Redbeard whiffed, then James Norwood took over and finally shut it down. Ric Rod worked the eighth and was nicked for a run via a two-out single. Jake Elmore opened with an infield knock and Gonzalez then pounded his first dinger of the campaign to get that run back with some gravy. Keone Kela put it away after a two-out walk. Raise the Roger (if you can find it, lol).

The Cubs are bad right now, and that's good for Pittsburgh. Chicago committed five boots and was 1-for-10 with RISP with 11 stranded runners...

Erik Gonzalez flashed some muscle tonight - 2019 Topps

Notes:

• The Pirates had 10 hits from nine different players; Fraze was the only Bucco with two raps. Joey O also reached base twice with a walk and a knock. Every starting position player scored, chased home a run, or both.
• Tonight's announced crowd was 9,989. Thank you, Chicago visitors.
• The Pirates broke a nine-game losing streak; the Cubs are in a seven-game freefall. Chi-town's magic number for postseason elimination is one.
• Josh Bell (groin), Starling Marte (wrist), Elias Diaz (knee) and Cole Tucker (knee) may be done for the rest of the season; it's still TBD. Tuck's was the surprise; apparently he's had a minor knee problem throughout the season and it flared up again late last week.
• The Pirates held a pregame moment of silence for Jason Rollison, who worked the Pirates webworks from Rumbunter to Pirates Breakdown to Bucs Dugout to his latest gig with DKSports, and just recently fell to cancer at 38 years of age. He was one of the good guys in both real life and Bucco social media and will be mightily missed.