North Shore Nine

The Pirates dropped a tough one at Wrigley, falling 4–3 to the Cubs to lose the series. It started the right way: Carmen Mlodzinsi gave the club four efficient innings against a talented Chicago lineup, threw the whole kitchen sink, and limited the damage to a single run. From there, the bullpen puzzle began. Chase Sugart bridged the middle, Mattson took the late handoff, and the go-ahead run crossed in the eighth. Earlier, Colin Holderman‘s meatballs loomed large, and the usage math was tight with Evan Sisk, Yohan Ramirez and Kyle Nicolas all being used recently from the pen.

Offensively, it was the familiar grind. Triolo has been trending up since the Ke’Bryan Hayes trade, and he laid down a clean sacrifice bunt today, but the inning fizzled. Jack Suwinski chipped in, Joey Bart delivered two RBI, and there were scattered baserunners, yet the lineup once again struggled to string together hits. The conversation turned, as it often does, to what has to happen for this group to win: Cruz has to be at his peak, Reynolds has to be at his peak, and they still need another legitimate bat at third base or left field.

There was also the wider sting: the bullpen has been thinned out, and David Bednar is now collecting saves for the Yankees. With Andrew Heaney being placed into the bullpen, we discuss how it effects both the rotation and bullpen.