The Pirates went into Wrigley and took two of three from the Cubs in a solid series—even with a tough ending.
Game one was about as boring as it gets, but in a good way. Just a good old-fashioned pitchers duel the entire time. Carmen Mlodzinski went up against Shota Imanaga, who has been a problem for the Pirates, and both of them were dominant. Mlodzinski kept working around traffic all day—six hits, three walks—and still didn’t give up a run through 5.1 innings. He continues to look steady to start the year in his return to the rotation.
Imanaga was even better, though. No hits allowed through six innings, and it felt like the Pirates weren’t going to get anything going at all. Then the seventh inning happened, as Shota came out of the game. Ryan O’Hearn led things off with a single, and Bryan Reynolds followed it with a bomb that basically decided the game from the right side. That ended up being all the offense they needed.
From there, the bullpen completely shut it down. Not just scoreless—no hits at all. Montgomery, Mattson, Soto, Santana all came in and made it look easy. When the pitching is on, this team can control games without needing much offense.
Game two was the complete opposite – extremely high-stress and action-packed.
Oneil Cruz immediately looked locked in, and that ended up being the story of the game. He singled and stole second in the first inning, did it again in the third, and just kept creating problems every time he got on base. It felt like the Cubs never really had an answer for him.
The Pirates built up a 3-0 lead early with Reynolds knocking in Cruz and O’Hearn adding a sac fly, and it felt like they were in control. Cruz reaching base five times and Yorke reaching four basically carried the offense, which is something you’ll take every time. When Cruz is playing like that, everything else gets easier.
Of course, it didn’t stay comfortable. The bullpen gave the lead back late, Santana finally gave up a run, and suddenly the Bucs were going to extras on the road with a pretty taxed pitching staff, which would normally be a recipe for disaster.
But they found a way. The offense didn’t do much early in extras, but they got a break in the 11th when Brandon Lowe reached and a throwing error let Nick Gonzales score. Then Yohan Ramirez had to go back out there and somehow finish it off.
It wasn’t clean at all. He put himself in trouble, loaded the bases, and it felt like it was about to fall apart. But he got out of it with two pop outs against Bregman and Suzuki in an emotional finish for Ramirez. That’s the kind of game the Pirates have lost in previous years, but the club this year is different.
Game three is the one that got away.
It looked like they were going to sweep early on. Bubba Chandler gave them a solid start—a couple home runs in the third, but otherwise looked good and limited walks, which has been a focus for him. Then the offense showed up again early.
Cruz led the game off with a homer, continuing his torrid streak. He was truly unbelievable all series. Then Brandon Lowe had his best game since Opening Day, a grand slam in the second and another homer later to make it 6-2.
At that point, the game felt pretty comfortable. But the bullpen just didn’t have anything left. After being taxed heavily the first two games, they fell apart in game three. Barco, Lawrence, and Urquidy all gave up runs, and the Cubs slowly worked their way back into it until it was tied.
Even then, the Pirates had a chance to win it. Cruz got on again, stole second again, got to third, and it felt like one more hit would do it. Instead, Lowe got called out on a brutal check swing, and that ended the inning.
Then in the bottom of the ninth, Urquidy gave up a walk-off single to Carson Kelly, and that was it.
Overall, this was still a really good series.
Taking two of three at Wrigley is always a win, and there were countless positives. The starting pitching was strong all three games, and at this point, the Bucs look like they might have the best starting rotation in the league. Cruz was easily the best player on the field the entire series and looks completely locked in right now. Lowe finally broke out again, which gave the lineup a huge boost.
The only real issue was the bullpen running out of gas in game three, but that’s going to happen when they are used that heavily in an extra innings game the day prior.
Next, they head to Washington to play a Nationals team that doesn’t look great on paper but has been hitting well.
