Bullpen, Bats Fail Again As Cubs Take Opener 5-0

The Cubs opened with a rap; a 4-6-3 DP carried JT Brubaker a clean inning. Jon Lester 1-2-3'ed the Bucs. Kyle Schwarber doubled to open the second, moved to third on a groundout and scored on Javy Baez's two-out bunt single that caught JT napping a bit. The Pirates had nada going again. Chicago made no noise in the third, and ditto for the Buccos. It took Bru 10 pitches to get through the fourth, and the Pirates showed some life with back-to-back leadoff raps by B-Rey and Key. Two outs later, Bucs were at second and third, where they stayed. With two gone in the fifth, Brubaker plunked a guy who scored before Victor Caratini doubled to make it 2-0. Gregory started things off with a walk; a fly out and DP cleaned that up. JT cruised through the sixth. Joey O singled to start it off for the Pirates. A forceout, Key single and Gonzo DP with Buccos on the corners created another zero; Pittsburgh had the leadoff guy on for three straight innings but...

Key stayed hot - 2016 Bowman Inception

In the seventh, Bru issued a free pass between two bouncers; Austin Davis came on to get the final out. Kyle Ryan took over for the Cubs and walked Gregory with two down for his only blemish. Anthony Rizzo singled with two gone in the eighth, bringing on Blake Cederlind. He walked Wilson Contreras, who had started back to the dugout after a pitch he thought was strike three but the ump called ball three. It hurt when Schwarber doubled in both runners and a following broken-bat rap made it 5-0. A third knock brought Nick Tropeano to the hill to whiff Baez. Jeremy Jeffress toed the slab and gave up a couple of loud outs but posted another zippo. The Cubs went quietly in the ninth and sent Dan Winkler to the bump. He struck out the side.

Same ol'...

Notes:

• The Pirates had four hits, two of them by Ke'Bryan Hayes. Gregory walked twice.
• JT Brubaker's nine punch outs are his career high; six was his old mark. 6-2/3 IP also was his longest single-game outing.
• Bryan Reynolds fourth inning knock broke a streak of 21 batters w/o a hit for Pittsburgh.
• CF Jared Oliva was called up to replace CF Jason Martin, who went on the 10-day IL (upper back strain), which we guess explains why he didn't play. RHP Yacksel Rios was moved to the 45-day IL to clear a 40-man roster space for Oliva. It seriously never ends.
• The Pirates were second in ground balls generated (46.9%), 28th in line drives hit (19.9%), last in homers (46) and 28th in BA (.216) in MLB going into tonight.