Third Inning + Young Bucs Propel Pirates Past Cubs with a 7-1 Victory

The bottom of the third inning propelled the Pirates to earn their third victory in a row and their second of this four-game series against the Cubs.

With one out in the inning, Bryan Reynolds roped a single into center field, and then Jack Suwinski drew a full-count walk putting two men on base for Daniel Vogelbach. 

Vogelbach hit an 86.3 mph single into right field, scoring Reynolds and placing Suwinski at second. Chavis struck out, giving way to the big guy, Oneil Cruz, with two men on and two outs. Cruz smoked a 111.8 mph single, plating Suwinski. Cruz then stole second base, and as a result of a bad throw, Vogelbach scored. 

When the dust settled in the bottom of the third, the Pirates led the Cubs 5-0. The Pirates beat the Cubs 7-1 after yet another impressive performance from the young Bucs. The Pirates will now go for the series win Wednesday night.

Roansy Contreras took to the bump Tuesday night and put together another encouraging start, considering he’s only 21 years old. Although it took Contreras 37 pitches to get through the first inning, he settled down and even qualified for the win. 

Contreras induced only eight swings and misses, but we saw him use his four-seam fastball a ton on Tuesday night. Contreras mostly used his four-seam and slider, with the fastball being used 54% of the time and the slider 26% of the time. 

Contreras’ final line read five innings pitched, four hits, one earned run, two walks, and three strikeouts on 92 pitches (65% strike rate). One thing is for sure, Contreras wasn’t afraid to challenge the batters.

Reynolds hit a sacrifice fly in the bottom of the first, scoring Hayes. The Pirates led 1-0.

Michael Perez blasted a solo home run, his third of the season, giving the Pirates an early 2-0 lead through two innings of play. 

Patrick Wisdom blasted a solo shot to left-center in the top of the fourth to cut into the Pirates’ lead. The Pirates led 5-1.

Vogelbach contributed again with an RBI double in the bottom of the fourth, giving the Pirates a 6-1 lead.

Bligh Madris continued to stay hot with his first-ever big league home run in the bottom of the sixth. The Pirates then led 7-1 over the Cubs.

Takeaways

Cruz is Ridiculous- Cruz has played in four career Major League games, and in each game, he has registered at least one RBI. The last Pirate to register an RBI in at least four games to start their career was Cookie Lavagetto in 1934.

Cruz is Ridiculous X2- Continuing with the RBI talk, the only other Pirate to have more RBIs through their first four games was Jack Merson, with nine in 1951. Cruz has eight through his first four.

Don’t Forget About Bligh- Madris is only the second Pirate since 1901 to have 4+ total bases in each of their first two games. The only other Pirate to do it was Dick Stuart in 1958.