North Shore Nine

The Pirates were unable to score enough runs once again, losing to the Cubs 5-4. They held the Cubs to only 2 runs through 9, but allowed the flood gates to open in the 10th leading to the loss.
Bailey Falter did not start the sharpest against the Cubs. The first batter singled off of him. He then managed two fly outs before giving up a golf shot home run to left field by Christopher Morel. The Pirates then went 1-2-3 in their half of the 1st to go into the 2nd down 2-0. Falter was able to settle in, throwing the next three innings without allowing a run. Oneil Cruz opened the bottom of the 4th for the Pirates with his 7th home run of the year. Connor Joe then walked and was picked off 1st, Jack Suwinski quickly replaced him with a walk of his own. A strikeout Stolen base put Jack at 2B with two outs and Rowdy Tellez coming to the plate. However, Tellez hit a soft bouncing ground ball back to the pitcher leaving the Pirates down one going into the 5th.

Falter continued to get fly ball after fly ball finishing the 5th and the 6th without further issue. The 6th started with a Cruz groundout, a Connor Joe double and a Suwinski infield single, bringing up Jared Triolo. Who was able to hit a Sac-Fly to tie the game 2-2. Rowdy Tellez followed up with a Faux strikeout on a time at the plate call, followed by a real strikeout looking to end the frame.

Luis Ortiz took over for Falter in the 7th, managing to escape the inning unscathed, thanks to good plays by Suwinski and Cruz. The bottom of the frame started with a Joey Bart walk and a Alika Williams infield single. After a Andrew McCutchen strikeout Bryan Reynolds came to to the plate. Reynolds promptly flew out on the 1st pitch being up Cruz who did the same on the 2nd pitch he saw ending the 7th.

Ortiz came back out and pitched a very good 8th, giving fans hope moving into the bottom of the frame. Where the Pirates went 1-2-3, bring the game to the 9th and David Bednar. Who nearly gave Pirates fans a heart attack working through a scoreless 9th. A infield single by Joey Bart, a balk and a infield single by pinch hitter Edward Olivares gave the Pirates 1st and 3rd with one out. Nick Gonzales pinch ran and stole second, giving the Pirates 2nd and 3rd with an out. With McCutchen at the plate he ran the count to 3-1, leading to an intentional walk giving Reynolds the change with bases loaded and one out. Reynolds immediately dribbled into a force at home for the 2nd out bring up Cruz. Cruz ran the count to 3-1, then flew out to the near track in RF to bring the game to extras.

Aroldis Chapman came on in the top of the 10th to pitch for the Pirates. Bellinger lead off the inning with a RBI single up the middle, while he was caught up between 1st and 2nd the damage was done. Reynolds got the 2nd out with a great diving catch in LF. However, after a fly-out Patrick Wisdom hit a solo homerun to push the lead to 4-2. A walk and a single then put men on 1st and 2nd, after three straight balls Chapman had to get his finger nails trimmed on the mound, which was not enough as he was then pulled from the game. This brought in Kyle Nicholas, who for a change of pace walked the Chapman 3-1 count, then allowed a past ball to push the score to 5-2 before getting a fly-out to end the frame. Connor Joe lead off the bottom of the 10th with a two-run homerun but it was not enough to overcome the deficit, as the Pirates fell 5-4.

The Pirates return to action tomorrow against the Milwaukee Brewers. The game will be at 7:40 PM at American Family Field in Milwaukee, WI. Mitch Keller will pitch for the Pirates with Colin Rea going for the Brew Crew.