Cubs Maul Bucs Again, 16-6

The Bucs went down quietly to Jose Quintana. Willy was tagged for a leadoff walk followed by a double followed by a Kris Bryant homer, hello, 3-0 hole. Joey O and Eli led off the second with singles; Redbeard bounced into a DP before Tuck fanned. The Cubs could only come up with a walk in their half. Erik Gonzalez began the third with a double, and a misplayed bunt (Anthony Rizzo twisted his ankle coming in to field it) left Bucs on the corners. It opened a flood valve; K-Man and Pablo singled around a B-Rey two-bagger, and the Corsairs were up 4-3. Eli walked an out later,and Redbeard singled home a fifth run. It didn't help Willy. Bryant homered off him again.Two singles and a sac fly later it was tied and Michael Feliz was called in after a walk. He got a K, but Tony Kemp tripled in a pair with two outs, and it was 7-5 Chi-town; then Feliz's throwing error (he was trying to get an appeal call at third) plated Kemp. The Pirates got the leadoff man aboard for the third straight time in the fourth when Steven Brault singled against Tyler Chatwood. B-Rey banged a ground rule double, and a bouncer chased home a run. Yacksel Rios got the ball and a single, two doubles and sac fly later, it was 10-6.

Pablo chased home three runs for the second time in his career. Both were against Chicago.
(photo Pittsburgh Pirates)

The Bucs got a grounder, Eli knock, Tuck DP in the fifth. Ian Happ launched a two-run shot off Rios, and a two-out rap brought on Ric Rod to finish up. The Bucs stranded a walk in the sixth and Williams Jerez got his first Bucco outing. A double/single combo earned the Cubs their 13th run. David Phelps climbed the hill and gave up back-to-back knocks to Joey O and Eli with an out in the seventh, then settled in to shut it down. Geoff Hartlieb toed the slab and was banged for a two-out, two-run dinger by Kyle Schwarber. Pedro Strop got the ball in the eighth and spun a clean frame. Alex McRae gave up a bomb to Jonathan Lucroy. James Norwood started off in a small jam with a boot and Pablo rap, but Joey O rolled into the Bucs third DP of the day and Eli's pop brought the day to a merciful end.

Well, the good thing is that with the pitching in the state it's in, the Pirates didn't miss J-Bell and Starling too much; even they would have trouble creating an extra 10 runs per game. 47 runs in 24 innings would be a challenge even for Murderer's Row to keep up with.

Notes:

• Five Bucs had two hits - Bryan Reynolds, Pablo Reyes (w/three RBI), Jose Osuna, Elias Diaz and Colin Moran. 
• Bryan Reynolds claimed the Pittsburgh rookie record for doubles in a season with 37, bypassing Paul Waner's 1926 mark of 35.
• The Pirates tied their modern record for runs surrendered in a three game set with 47. The other series was between June 23rd-25th, 1950, when Brooklyn rang up 47 runs at Ebbets Field. The Bucco staff has given up 14 or more runs in three straight games for the first time in modern franchise history. The Cubs became the fifth team since 1900 to score at least 14 runs in three straight games, along with the 1901 & 1928 Pirates, 1930 Cubs, and 1993 Tigers. And to keep the 14 thing going, Chicago also hit 14 homers during the series.
• Archie will be shut down for the rest of the year, per NH on his radio show, confirming what everyone already knew two weeks ago. He added that J-Bell is not done for the season, but is likely to miss a few more days with his groin injury.