Bucs Fall Short In 4-3 Loss To Chicago; Hayes On 10-Day IL

Today's Game: Zach Davies cruised through the first; not so Mitch Keller. He walked two of the first three Cubbies, and a single to right followed by a right-side bouncer made it 2-0 on that one hit. Phil Evans singled in the second while the Cubs went down in order. Fraze walked in the third; Ian Happ led off the Cubbie half by depositing a middle-middle slider into the batter's eye. After an out, Kells walked two more Baby Bruins but worked out of it. He's already at 77 pitches. It was a 1-2-3 fourth for the Pirates, and Chris Stratton claimed the bump, tossing a clean frame. The fifth was quiet for Pittsburgh and Duane Underwood took his turn, spinning a three up-three down inning. 

Bryan Reynolds singled with two gone in the sixth and yo - Colin Moran went deep just beyond the basket to make it 3-2. That was followed by an infield knock and walk, bringing on Dan Winkler. He got Michael Perez, who flew out 377' to the track in left center. Underwood stayed on and gave up a leadoff two-bagger. A right-side grounder and through-the-wickets whiff by Evans (the runner would have been frozen if fielded cleanly) plated an insurance run. Sam Howard was waved on and walked the bases full. Sam then got a comebacker DP (1-2-3 if you're scoring) to escape his self-made jam. Ryan Tepera worked the seventh. An opening walk was erased by a pop and line-out DP thanks to Tony Alford's nap at first, 5-to-3. Kyle Crick wasted no time returning to the slab and a walk/wild pitch combo didn't come back to bite him.

Kyle Crick is back from his daddy break - photo 2021 Pirates

Rex Brothers took the ball with an out in the eighth and gave up an infield rap to B-Rey and double to Redbeard. Evans singled in a run before Gregory bounced into a 4-6-3 DP. Dave Bednar gave up a couple of well hit balls in the Chi-Town half but still sat down all three Cubbies. Craig Kimbrel got the bottom of the order in the ninth and mowed them down, with a little help from a wide strike zone (Alford was rung up on ball four) and an at 'em ball off Wilmer Difo's bat.

The Bucs were there own worst enemies today as walks, a gift run and baserunning haunted them. The plate ump also had a bad day; if robots take their job, they'll have no one to blame but themselves. The team generated enough chances to win but were way too generous to their opponents, at least during this series. Now on to Cincinnati...

Notes:

• The middle of the order banged out seven hits and scored/drove in all three runs; Phil Evans had three knocks while Colin Moran & Bryan Reynolds each had a pair. The rest of the lineup had no runs and no hits to its credit.
• Pirates starters have lasted 11 innings in the three Wrigley games. Pittsburgh has used 13 of its 15 rostered pitchers (JT Brubaker & Trevor Cahill start the next series against Cincy) in the set.
• Ke'Bryan Hayes MRI results found inflammation (swelling) in his wrist and he was placed on the 10-day IL after a workout showed some weakness in his glove hand. Wilmer Difo was called up to take his spot on the roster. Difo wasn't on the 40-man roster, so RHP Tyler Bashlor was DFA'ed to clear room. No one is quite sure how long Young Hayes will be out, but it does highlight one consequence of the Pirates short bench - they can't afford to carry anyone who may sit out four or five days.

Tomorrow's Game: The Buccos travel to Cincy's GABP and will send out JT Brubaker to tackle Jose DeLeon. The game will begin at 6:40 and be on AT&T SportsNet and 93.7 The Fan. The Reds took two of three from the Redbirds while the Pirates dropped two of three in the Windy City.