All the Way, Again: A Chicago Cubs Franchise.

[Gagnon39]

May 19, 2020

PITTSBURGH (OS) -- The Chicago Cubs cranked four home runs Tuesday night at PNC Park as they stretched their winning streak to four games, defeating the Pittsburgh Pirates by a final of 6-5. Willson Contreras hit a pair of homers, including a two-run homer in the top of the second inning off of Pirates starter Joe Musgrove.

Jose Quintana completed five innings, and was responsible for all five Pirates runs on the night in the no-decision. Quintana allowed just one run through the first four frames but ran into trouble in the fifth. With two outs in the bottom of the fifth the Pirates collected four hits and a walk to take a 5-4 lead. But solo homers by Willson Contreras in the top of the sixth and Javier Baez in the top of the seventh pushed the Cubs back in front as the bullpen completed four innings of shutout baseball.

Alec Mills earned his first win of the year after completing a scoreless sixth and Craig Kimbrel notched his 10th save of the season, striking out two.

[Gagnon39]

May 20, 2020

PITTSBURGH (OS) -- Starter Tyler Chatwood had his first plate appearance of the game before he even through a pitch Wednesday night as the Cubs batted around in the first inning, scoring five runs en route to an 18-4 blowout of the struggling Pittsburgh Pirates.

The Cubs scored four runs before Pirates starter Chris Archer recorded his first out of the game. The big blow in the first inning came off of a three-run homer by slugger Kyle Scharber. Archer fell to 0-7 on the year and completed just 1 1/3 innings, allowing seven runs on six hits.

The Cubs knocked five home runs in the game including a seventh inning inside-the-park homer by Jason Heyward.

Tyler Chatwood earned the victory and moved to 3-1 on the year, completing seven innings while allowing three runs on seven hits and striking out three batters.

The Cubs will look to sweep the three-game set against the Pirates tomorrow afternoon before starting an important series against the division-leading Milwaukee Brewers to wrap up their nine-game road trip. Yu Darvish (4-3, 6.11) will make his 11th start of the year for the Cubs. The Pirates will toss Trevor Williams (2-4, 4.41) in hopes of ending their four-game slide.

[moose141]

13-35 Pirates!?!?

[Gagnon39]

Hahaha. I know. They’re just awful.


Sent from my iPhone using Operation Sports

[OldHossRadbourn]

How's the bullpen been looking for you and how are things looking down on the Farm?

[Gagnon39]

Quote: Originally Posted by OldHossRadbourn

How's the bullpen been looking for you and how are things looking down on the Farm?

The bullpen is still very much so in need of a major overhaul. That will definitely be a focus moving toward the trade deadline.

In the farm no one is exactly setting the world on fire at the moment. RPH Ryan Jensen has been an pleasant surprise so far four Double-A Tennessee. The Cubs top prospect, SS Nico Hoerner is having an average season in Triple-A Iowa buy nothing spectacular.

The Cubs don’t have a whole lot in terms of prospect depth or even really even much quality. Any prospect will be available come deadline time minus a few including.

CF Brennan Davis
C Miguel Amaya
LHP Ryan Steele


Sent from my iPhone using Operation Sports

[Gagnon39]

May 21, 2020 | PITTSBURGH, PA

Yu Darvish settled in after allowing a pair of runs on three hits in the first inning as the Cubs rallied in Pittsburgh to sweep the Pirates at PNC Park with a 3-2 win. The win pushed the Cubs' winning streak to six games. Anthony Rizzo delivered the game's biggest hit with a solo home run in the top of the seventh inning off of Pirates reliever Sean Rodriguez.

Victor Caratini was 4-for-4 on the day and Craig Kimbrel notched his 11th save of the year, striking out two. The Cubs improve to 30-21 on the year and now sit just one game back of the division-leading Milwaukee Brewers. The Cubs travel to Milwaukee tomorrow to start a three-game set against the Brewers to wrap up their 10-game road trip. Jon Lester (5-2, 3.32) will be on the mound for the Cubs as they look to pull even with the Brewers in the division. Adrian Houser (1-6, 6.42) will be on the bump for the Brewers.

The Cubs are 1-5 against the Brewers this year and know that they will need to improve against top divisional teams if they hope to compete for the division. "[Milwaukee] has had our number this year," said Cubs first baseman Anthony Rizzo. "But it's a long season and we know we're a good team that can play with anyone."

[Gagnon39]

May 22, 2020 | MILWAUKEE, WI

The Cubs scored twice in top of the first inning but the Brewers came back with three runs of their own in the bottom of the inning on their way to a 9-5 win. The loss snaps the Cubs six-game winning streak. Jon Lester was shaky from the get-go, surrendering seven earned runs on eight hits through just five innings of work. Lester took the loss and fell to 5-3 on the year.

The Cubs pulled within one run after an RBI double by Willson Contreras in the top of the third a a solo homer by Kris Bryant in the top of the fourth, his 10th of the year. However, the Brewers touched the Cubs up for a pair of runs in the fifth and the sixth pushing their lead to four and the Cubs were unable to respond.

Christian Yelich went 3-for-3 including a two-run homer and Lorenzo Cain continued to torch Cubs pitching.

With a win the Cubs would have pulled even in the NL Central division with the Brewers, but the loss moved them 2.0 games back. The Cubs will look to bounce back tomorrow as Kyle Hendricks (6-2, 3.96) takes the hill. The Brewers will toss Corbin Burnes (4-1, 6.23).

The Cubs have beat the Brewers just once out of six games so far in 2020 and manager David Ross knows that sooner or later his club is going to have to find a way to beat the top teams in the division if they hope to compete down the stretch. "We've done a lot of good so far this season and our record reflects that," said Ross. "But we have to find a way to stay competitive in big games... these guys have been there before and I have little doubt that they're capable. We just need to find consistency, especially on the mound."

Cubs pitching continues to be an area of concern for president of baseball operations Theo Epstein. "We're going to have to take a good hard look at where we are and evaluate what the best direction is moving forward," said Epstein. The Cubs currently have the 13th highest team ERA in the National League at 4.62 and have allowed 487 hits in their 52 games.