The Cubs offense revives in a 9-0 trouncing of the Pirates.
After Phillies pitching stifled the Cubs offense for the most part over the weekend, it was a refreshing sight to see the Cubs offense come out in force Tuesday night. It was what you hoped would happen and happen it did. After being mowed down the first time through the order, the Cubs offense bombarded the Pirates over the game’s final six innings.
The only real issue that the Cubs had in a walkover win Tuesday night was an injury to Shōta Imanaga. Even at that, Imanaga finished five shutout innings before leaving in the sixth. He allowed a double to start the sixth and then left with what turned out to be leg cramps, so it’s likely not serious. After that, the Cubs bullpen threw four scoreless innings to lock down the shutout.
This series will be no pushover with Paul Skenes still lurking before it’s over. But the Cubs did what they needed to do and took game one. That leaves both a series win and even a series sweep still in play. One day at a time.
It has been well publicized that the Cubs played the most difficult schedule in the majors over their first 29 games and the easiest schedule in the majors over their remaining 133 games. One down and it was a successful one.
Equally encouraging to the nine run victory was the number of players who contributed. All nine starters had hits, 13 in total. In addition to the 13 hits, they drew five walks. Six of the nine Cubs reached twice or more. Of the three who didn’t reach twice, one was Pete Crow-Armstrong who stayed blistering hot with a two-run homer. He’s been tattooing the ball all over the yard for a few weeks now.
The Cubs slugged four homers, a triple and three doubles in the game. A deep and balanced approach has been the hallmark of the Cubs offense. Kyle Tucker has been quiet for several games now and it is fun to see the Cubs productive even when he is not. As good a hitter as he is, you just know that it is only a matter of time.
Pitch Counts:
- Cubs: 146 pitches, 36 batters (16.22/PPI; 4.06/PPB)
- Pirates: 149 pitches, 42 batters (16.56/PPI; 3.55/PPB)
In terms of pitches, the Cubs didn’t really make the Pirates work particularly hard. The Cubs probably won’t have achieved any secondary victories of taking anyone out for the series. These numbers look a little better because Cubs hitters were pretty aggressive in the eighth in ninth after the game was fairly out of hand. Also, right or wrong call based, it seemed like all of the close calls worked against the Cubs, in particular forcing Imanaga to throw a bunch of extra pitches.
Three Stars:
- Seiya Suzuki had three hits, all extra bases, and a walk. He ended up just a single shy of the cycle. He drove in two and scored three.
- Carson Kelly also had three hits, among them the two-run homer that got the scoring started.
- Shōta Imanaga threw five scoreless innings. Especially given the three perfect innings to start on the other side, that start was key to keeping this one very much alive until the offense gets going. We can only hope that the apparent cramping injury is minor and Shōta won’t miss any starts.
Game 30, April 29: Cubs 9, Pirates 0 (18-12)
Fangraphs
Reminder: Heroes and Goats are determined by WPA scores and are in no way subjective.
THREE HEROES:
- Superhero: Shōta Imanaga (.211). 5 IP, 21 BF, 6 H, BB, 0 ER, 3 K (W 3-1)
- Hero: Carson Kelly (.168). 3-5, HR, 3 RBI, R
- Sidekick: Daniel Palencia (.087). IP, 4 BF, BB, K
THREE GOATS:
- Billy Goat: Ian Happ (-.051). 1-5, 2B, R, DP
- Goat: Jon Berti (-.030). 1-4
- Kid: Michael Busch (-.016). 1-4, BB
WPA Play of the Game: Carson Kelly hit a two-run homer with two outs in the fourth to start the scoring. (.217)
*Pirates Play of the Game: Andrew McCutchen doubled leading off the sixth for the Pirates. They were only down four at the time. (.048)
Cubs Player of the Game:
Sunday’s Winner: Jameson Taillon (164 of 169 votes)
Rizzo Award Standings: (Top 5/Bottom 5)
The award is named for Anthony Rizzo, who finished first in this category three of the first four years it was in existence and four times overall. He also recorded the highest season total ever at +65.5. The point scale is three points for a Superhero down to negative three points for a Billy Goat.
- Kyle Tucker +14
- Miguel Amaya/Shōta Imanaga +8
- 3 Players at +4
- Nate Pearson/Brad Keller -6
- Matt Shaw -7
- Ben Brown -8
- Dansby Swanson -13
Up Next: Game two of the three game series is Wednesday evening. Matthew Boyd (2-2, 2.54, 28⅓ IP) gets his sixth start for the Cubs. Last time out, he beat the Dodgers, allowing three runs on 10 hits and a walk. He did face the Pirates last year as a member of the Guardians. He allowed a run on four hits over six innings and was a hard luck loser.
26-year-old righty Carmen Mlodzinski (1-3, 6.95. 22 IP) will be making the sixth start of his season and 11th of his young career (he has 70 relief appearances as well). Carmen was a competitive balance pick after the first round of the 2020 draft. Last time out, he pitched in Los Angeles against the Angels and allowed three runs over five innings. He’s yet to record an out in the sixth inning of a game this season. He threw four scoreless innings over two relief outings last summer against the Cubs.
This doesn’t look like a layup, but the Cubs have hammered right-handed starters and a guy who hasn’t gone deep in any games feels like someone the patient Cubs approach might get to.