Pirates Blanked by Cubs, Still Can’t Figure Out Imanaga; No Strikeouts for Bucs Pitchers

PITTSBURGH — Chicago Cubs starter Shota Imanaga continued his dominance against the Pittsburgh Pirates on Tuesday night at PNC Park.

For the third time in as many tries against Imanaga in his brief career, the Pirates (11-19) were unable to score a run against him and were defeated 9-0. 

How We Got There

Pirates starter Andrew Heaney (2-2) retired the first 11 batters he faced before the wheels quickly fell off. With two outs in the fourth, Seiya Suzuki doubled to center before Carson Kelly hit a two-run home run to left. 

The following inning, Pete Crow-Armstrong hit a two-run homer to right to extend the Cubs’ lead to 4-0.

Heaney then walked three of the next five batters he faced and exited with the bases loaded and two outs in the fifth. Reliever Kyle Nicolas escaped the jam by getting Kelly to ground out. 

Kyle Tucker singled home a run off Joey Wentz in the seventh and scored on Seiya Suzuki’s two-run home run off Hunter Stratton, who was making his season debut. 

The following inning, Dansby Swanson hit a leadoff homer against Colin Holderman to put the Cubs (18-12) up 8-0. 

Kelly’s single in the top of the ninth off David Bednar drove in Suzuki

The Cubs went the entire game without striking out and outhit the Pirates 13-7.

Key Moment

Bryan Reynolds stepped up to the plate with the bases loaded and two outs against Imanaga but struck out looking on three pitches. Reynolds is hitless in his last 18 at-bats. 

Star of the Game

As good as Imagana was, Seiya Suzuki fell a single shy of the cycle, drove in two runs and scored three times.

https://twitter .com/Cubs/status/1917383778982584652

Notable Pirates Performances

• Andrew Heaney: 4.2 innings, five hits, four runs, three walks, no strikeouts, 70 pitches/43 strikes
• Joey Bart: 2 for 2, two walks
• Isiah Kiner-Falefa: 2 for 4

Stat to Know

Imanaga (3-1) has made three starts against the Pirates in his career and hasn’t allowed a run in 19.0 total innings. Entering play, the Pirates had only four hits against him in 14.0 innings but struck for six in 20 at-bats prior to his premature exit. 

Noteworthy

• The game started after a brief delay of 22 minutes due to heavy rain in the area pregame.
• This was the second time Joey Bart has reached base four times in his career. The other came on 9/1/2020 (three hits, one HBP).
• Ke’Bryan Hayes extended his hitting streak to nine games with an eighth-inning single.
• The Pirates placed RHP Dennis Santana on the bereavement/family medical emergency list. RHP Hunter Stratton was recalled from Triple-A Indianapolis.
• RHP Dauri Moreta (Tommy John surgery) started a rehab assignment with Low-A Bradenton on Tuesday.

Up Next

RHP Carmen Mlodzinski (1-3, 6.95 ERA) gets the ball for the Pirates against the Cubs on Wednesday night. LHP Matthew Boyd (2-2, 2.54 ERA) will start for Chicago. First pitch: 6:40 p.m. ET.