The Pittsburgh Pirates headed west to the windy city to take on the Chicago Cubs for the first three games of a five game road trip. These two division rivals met earlier this month in Pittsburgh where the Pirates swept the Cubs in three games. This was an important series for the Pirates as they had just been swept by the Cincinnati Reds in a three game series at home.
Friday May 14: Game one of this series matched Brian Burres vs. former Bucco Tom Gorzelanny. Fortunately Gorzelanny showed the colors we Bucco fans have expected from him as he would go five innings giving up five runs on nine hits. Garret Jones and Andrew McCutchen lead the damage for the Pirates combining for ten hits in eleven at bats, with a home run apiece and batting in seven RBI’s. Fortunately the Pirates bullpen held down the Cubs offense after Burres was only able to go four innings giving up five earned runs on seven hits. It was great for the Pirates offense to explode for ten runs after scoring only one in their previous three games.
Saturday May 15: The best way to describe game two of the series was a nail biter. The Pirates started the game off with three runs in the top of the first and appeared to be on their way to an easy win over the north siders, but the Cubs battled back with two runs in the bottom of the third. Paul Maholm of the Pirates pitched a solid game giving up only two earned runs in six innings of work and earning his third win of the year. The Cubs also got good work out of their starter, Ryan Dempster, who went seven innings giving up three runs. The biggest hit of the day for the Pirates came in the top of the ninth as Jeff Clement hit a solo home run, his fourth of the year, which would end up being the game winner. Octavio Dotel earned his seventh save of the year after he gave up and RBI triple to Kosuke Fukudome in the bottom of the ninth to make the score 4-3 in favor of the Pirates. With a runner on third and one out Dotel would strike out the next two batters to give them their seventh straight win over the Cubs.
Sunday May 16: The final game of the series would be another nail biter. Ross Olhendorf gave the Pirates another solid outing after coming off the DL as he would go six innings allowing only two runs. Unfortunately for Ross the Pirates would only manage three runs in the game and former Bucco Xavier Nady would deliver the fatal blow. After Olendorf left in the top of the seventh, Evan Meek would come on in relief. The bullpen which was solid in games one and two of the series finally slipped up. Meek would throw a wild pitch that got the Cubs within one. The next batter Derek Lee would then tie the game with a RBI single. In the eighth inning D.J. Carrasco came in and would give up the eventual game winning single to the X-Man. The Pirates would go 1-2-3 in the ninth, losing the final game 4-3.
This was a key series for the Pirates as they played much better than they had in their previous series against the Reds. The starting pitching was good, the offense showed up and the bullpen showed their potential in games one and two. The defense had a few errors which did hurt the Pirates in the third game. Overall fans should be happy with their windy city performance. Up next the Pirates head to the city of brotherly love for an in state battle with the Philadelphia Phillies. Be sure to check out Fans From the Stands for the series recap.
Current Record: 16-21
As Always…..Lets Go Bucs!!!!!
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