Pittsburgh Pirates Take Two Against The Cubs In Chicago

The Pittsburgh Pirates pitching staff did not allow a run in 14 innings over two games on Saturday at Wrigley Field as the Bucs downed the Chicago Cubs 5-3 and 5-0 to end a four-game losing streak.

The two victories boosted Pittsburgh’s record to 73-68, and they are tied with the Atlanta Braves at one game back of the Milwaukee Brewers for the second wild card playoff spot in the National League.

The Pirates’ Francisco Liriano surrendered just three hits on 98 pitches over six innings of work in their second victory of the day. The 6-foot-2, 215-pound left-hander walked two and struck out nine in shutting out the Cubs.

The scoring barrage in the nightcap got started early when Starling Marte lead the game off with a ground ball single to left field and Jordy Mercer brought him home on a soft line drive to right.

The third frame saw Andrew McCutchen single to left and moved to third on Neil Walker’s double to left with one out. Gaby Sanchez’s ground out to third allowed McCutchen to score.

McCutchen, who had three hits in the second game, added to the scoreboard in the seventh against Cubs reliever Dan Straily with a single to center that drove home pinch-runner Chase d’Arnaud from third.

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Chris Stewart’s single to left scored Gregory Polanco in the eighth. Stewart was filling in for Russell Martin in the nightcap as Martin had turned his left ankle on a swing the previous day. Martin had finished out the suspended game.

In the top of the ninth, Jordy Mercer blasted his 10th home run of the season on a fly ball to left center off Chicago reliever Arodys Vizcaino.

Coming out of the bullpen, lefty Justin Wilson worked the seventh, right-hander Jared Hughes took care of business in the eighth and righty Brandon Cumpton closed out in the ninth as the Bucs brought home their fourth shutout of the season.

Chicago starter Felix Doubront threw 81 pitches over five innings of work in the second game. The southpaw saw his record drop to 3-5 as he gave up two earned runs on five hits and struck out only one.

Earlier in the day, the Pirates put the brakes on a four-game losing streak as they concluded Friday’s game which had been suspended due to rain at end of the sixth with the teams tied at 3.

Clint Hurdle’s squad raised the Jolly Roger on Josh Harrison’s line drive single to center off Chicago left-handed reliever Wesley Wright in the top of the 11th that scored Neil Walker for the go ahead run. Tony Sanchez added an insurance run on a sacrifice fly to center that brought home Gregory Polanco from third and made the final score 5-3.

Tony Watson and Mark Melancon each threw two scoreless innings when play resumed today. They both struck out three and gave up only one hit. Melancon picked up his third win this season while John Holdzkom got his first big league save in just his second Major League appearance. The 6-foot-7 right-hander struck out two while throwing a total of 12 pitches to close out the contest.

The Pirates will be going for the three-game sweep of the Cubs on Sunday at Wrigley Field. The first pitch is set for 2:20 p.m. The fifth-place Cubs (64-78) will send left-hander Travis Wood (8-11, 4.81 ERA) to the mound while the Bucs will go with Gerrit Cole (7-5, 3.86 ERA).

The 23-year-old right-hander will be making his 18th start of the season on Sunday afternoon. Cole has won four of his last six decisions while Pittsburgh is 11-6 in his 17 starting assignments. The game will be broadcast by ROOT Sports Pittsburgh.