CHICAGO — As the sun finally came out in Chicago, netting a picture-perfect day that featured inarguably the best weather the Pirates have experienced thus far, their on-field game resembled a gray, dreary day in February.
Or, more realistically, a massive blizzard causing widespread power outages, as the Pirates slipped and stumbled their way to the most lopsided loss in franchise history.
The Cubs pummeled the Pirates, 21-0, at Wrigley Field. Thank goodness Chicago didn’t go for two. While Derek Shelton’s club totaled three hits on the afternoon, five Cubs had at least that many.
“We just didn’t play well,” Shelton said. “There’s no way around it.”
The loss was so bad, in fact, that it required significant historical context:
— Saturday surpassed a 20-0 defeat suffered to the Milwaukee Brewers at home on April 22, 2010. The Pirates came close last year when they were blown out, 20-1, at Atlanta on May 21, 2021.
— Pittsburgh hasn’t allowed 21 runs in a game since May 25, 1954, when the Pirates suffered a 21-4 loss to the Giants … back when they played in New York.
— The Pirates also gave up that many during a 21-12 loss to the Brooklyn Dodgers on June 24, 1950, and they gave up more in a 23-6 loss to the same team on July 10, 1943.
— At least the franchise record for runs allowed in a loss during any era was safe. That happened when the Boston Beaneaters — back in Tom Brady’s early days — cruised to a 28-14 victory on Aug. 28, 1897.
“It was just one of those days where things didn’t go right for us, we didn’t play well, and that’s why the score was what it was,” Shelton said.
It was also one of those days, well, like too many we’ve seen this season, when the Pirates’ starting pitching was lacking. Although it was more balls finding holes than the Cubs teeing off on Zach Thompson, he still gave up nine runs (four earned) on nine hits in just two innings.
Ian Happ and Seiza Suzuki singled in runs early. Willson Contreras smacked one through a drawn-in infield to knock in two more and push the Cubs in front, 4-0. Kevin Newman booted what should’ve been an inning-ending double play ball, extending an eight-run second.
After Thompson walked Patrick Wisdom, a grounder off the bat of Jonathan Villar took a funky hop, smacked Newman in the arm, and he was charged with a second error. That allowed two more runs to come across before Alfonso Rivas basically delivered the knockout punch.
Rivas ambushed a first-pitch cutter and blasted it 416 feet at 105.0 mph into the right-field bleachers for a three-run homer.
“I got a lot of soft contact,” Thompson said. “I think that’s what we were pushing for going into this start — to make sure I get ground balls and get weak contact, and we did that. We can’t help the fact that they just hit it everywhere that we weren’t. It’s just one of those days.”
Unfortunately for the Pirates, bad days from starting pitchers have been far too frequent. That group has a 6.68 ERA through 15 games, among the worst such marks in MLB.
Additionally, the Pirates have now allowed 37 runs in either the first or second innings of games, a total that far outpaces any other MLB team. Time for an opener or a rotation change? Certainly could be.
“It’s definitely something we’re considering,” Shelton said of using a reliever for one or two innings to start.
Another concerning thing to come out of this game was Newman. The two errors gave him four in 12 games this season. He had just three in 132 contests a year ago. For someone who hasn’t had an OPS over .574 (2021) since his breakout 2019, the Pirates must get Gold Glove-caliber defense to justify Newman playing most days at shortstop.
“Definitely frustrating,” Newman said. “[Saturday’s] a tough one. First one just rushed a little bit. Second one, took a pretty brutal hop. Wasn’t much I could do there. Couple hops that just haven’t gone my way, so try to flush it and do as best as I can for the team going forward.”
While the Cubs were busy sprinting out to a football score early, the Pirates’ offense — which was clicking during the first two games of this series — remained stuck in neutral.
Cubs starter Kyle Hendricks was nine up, nine down through three. Daniel Vogelbach smacked a book-rule double to open the fourth, but Hendricks followed with three quick outs. Similar stuff when Cole Tucker opened the sixth with a single; Hendricks took the air out fast.
The right-hander wound up working seven innings and allowing just those two hits, walking none, striking out two and throwing just 76 pitches.
“The two-seamer was really good,” Shelton said of Hendricks. “We’ve seen him a bunch of times. I don’t know if I’ve seen the two-seamer from him as sharp as it was.”
Not like the Pirates needed more of this Saturday, but they got another dose of bad news after Miguel Yajure entered the game. Considered one of the organization’s top pitching prospects along with Roansy Contreras, Yajure struggled mightily against the Cubs.
In 2 1/3 innings, Yajure gave up seven earned runs on seven hits, at one point allowing three consecutive doubles and two-baggers to four Cubs in a six-batter stretch. Yajure has now allowed 13 earned runs over just 8 1/3 innings this season (14.04 ERA).
Diego Castillo pitched the eighth inning and had a tough time as well, allowing four earned runs, as the Cubs made it a three-touchdown game. About the only positive thing to pluck was Aaron Fletcher going 2 2/3 innings and allowing just one run.
Given what else transpired, it felt like draining Lake Michigan with a coffee cup.
“We have a chance to come out and win the series [Sunday],” Newman said. “They got this one. We can still come out [Sunday], play the game we know we can play and take the series.”
