Pittsburgh Pirates Fail To Score Against Chicago Cubs At PNC Park
By Larry Snyder
The Pittsburgh Pirates could not generate any offense Tuesday as the Chicago Cubs shut them out 5-0 at PNC Park. The crew of the Jolly Roger are eight games below .500 at 19-27 against the National League Central Division this season.
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Clint Hurdle‘s squad owns a 61-44 record and remain five 1/2 games behind the first-place St. Louis Cardinals (67-39) in the NL Central. They are 8-9 coming out of the All-Star break.
The Cubs spoiled the debut of Pittsburgh starter J.A. Happ. The 6-foot-5, 205-pound left-hander surrendered four earned runs on eight hits over four 1/3 innings in his first outing for the Bucs since coming over from the Seattle Mariners. He struck out six and walked two in taking on 23 batters. Happ is the eighth different starting pitcher used by the Pirates this year.
The winning run for Chicago came in the top of the first. With the bases loaded, and one out, Jorge Soler drew a walk from Happ which allowed Chris Denorfia to cross home plate.
The Cubs added two more runs to the box score in the third. With two out, Starlin Castro collected his 10th double on a line drive to center that drove in Anthony Rizzo. David Ross closed out the scoring by hitting a ground ball single to center to bring home Castro.
Pittsburgh Pirates
Castro, who went 2-for-5 at the plate, hit his 11th double of the season in the fifth on a line drive to left off Pirates reliever Jared Hughes. Soler closed out the assault of the scoreboard in the sixth when he singled on a sharp line drive off Hughes to left that permitted Kris Bryant to score.
Jake Arrieta allowed just two hits and no earned runs in seven innings of work for Chicago. The 6-foot-4, 225-pound right-hander struck out five and walked three in picking up his 12th victory against six losses. The 29-year-old Arrieta delivered 63 of his 109 pitches for strikes in dueling with 24 hitters.
Chicago (58-47) was able to get the job done as they recorded five runs on 14 hits against Pittsburgh. It was the Cubs sixth win in a row as they are three 1/2 back of the Pirates in the NL Central.
Up Next: The Pirates and Cubs wrap up their rain-shortened two-game set Wednesday along the North Shore. Chicago has elected to go with 34-year-old Dan Haren (7-7, 3.42 ERA/1.09 WHIP). The 6-foot-5, 215-pound right-hander has contributed 88 strikeouts over 129.0 innings pitched. It will be Haren’s debut since being brought over in a trade with the Miami Marlins.
Pittsburgh will give the ball to 27-year-old Jeff Locke (6-6, 4.21 ERA/1.42 WHIP). The left-hander has 88 strikeouts over 113.1 innings pitched. The game gets underway at 7:05 p.m., and you can watch the match-up on ROOT Sports Pittsburgh.
From The Clipboard: The game lasted 3:15, and there were 34,993 in attendance at PNC Park…The Bucs were 56-49 after 105 games last season…Rob Scahill is scheduled to make two rehab assignments in the near future. The 6-foot-2, 210-pound right-hander was placed on the 15-day disabled list in late June with right forearm tightness. Hurdle said Scahill is expected to hurl a two-inning, 35-pitch game Thursday in the Gulf Coast League. If all goes well, he should throw three innings and around 50 pitches at Double-A Altoona in the middle of next week.
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