April 8, 2014- Pirates at Cubs - harleyhorse8's Dynasty

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April 8, 2014- Pirates at Cubs

Posted on May 29, 2014 at 10:41 PM.

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Cubs Bust it Open Late en Route to Third Win

By Andrew Kovalchuk, MLB.com Journalist, April 8, 2014

CHICAGO- Coming off a big win against the Phillies, the Chicago Cubs (2-4) came into this game looking for the next step on the road back to .500. And boy, did they sure get it with this game.

Starter Travis Wood (1-0) looked great through the innings he pitched, going six full only allowing four hits. However, a double in the second by Pirate 1B Gaby Sanchez later came around to score, and it looked like it may be another one of "those days" after the Cubs were shut down through five by Francisco Liriano (0-1).

That is, until the sixth. With two on, a succession of singles by such players as Starlin Castro, Junior Lake, and Mike Olt drove in four runs. The Pirates eventually got out of the inning and established a 1-2-3 seventh, but the damage was done. The game would be sealed in the eighth after Buccos reliever Mark Melancon gave up a single to Darwin Barney and walked third baseman Olt. With two away, Castro hit a three-run homer to put the game to bed. The Cubs bullpen continued their fine play, with Blake Parker, Wesley Wright, and Pedro Strop putting in three scoreless innings of work.

Despite their excellent play today, Anthony Rizzo was once again disappointing, not managing a hit in 3 AB. On the other side of the ball, Pedro Alvarez has been sorely disappointing to start this year, not managing even one hit in six ballgames.

Games 2 and 3 are tomorrow and the 10th.

Andrew Kovalchuk covers the NL Central for MLB.com. Follow him on Twitter at @ItsAndyK.

Pittsburgh Pirates at Chicago Cubs
Apr 8, 2014	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Pittsburgh (4-2)	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	4	0
Chicago (2-4)	0	0	0	0	0	4	0	3	x	7	6	0
W: Wood (2-0) L: Liriano (0-1) S: N/A

Scoring Summary
SCORING DETAILS			PIT	CHC

Pittsburgh Pirates
HITTERS	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	HR	AVG
Marte, LF	3	0	0	0	1	1	0	.125
Polanco, RF	4	0	0	0	0	2	0	.417
McCutchen, CF	3	0	1	0	1	1	0	.250
Alvarez, 3B	4	0	0	0	0	3	0	.000
Sanchez, 1B	4	1	2	0	0	0	0	.182
Mercer, SS	3	0	0	0	1	0	0	.100
Walker, 2B	3	0	0	1	0	0	0	.350
Martin, C	3	0	1	0	0	0	0	.348
Liriano, P	2	0	0	0	0	1	0	.333
Tabata, LF	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	.444
TEAM TOTALS	30	1	4	1	3	8	0
BATTING: 2B: Sanchez 2 (2) RBI: Walker (6) SF: Walker

Chicago Cubs
HITTERS	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	HR	AVG
Bonifacio, RF	4	0	1	0	1	1	0	.292
Barney, 2B	5	2	2	0	1	1	0	.318
Castro, SS	4	2	2	3	1	1	1	.292
Ruggiano, CF	3	1	0	0	2	1	0	.208
Castillo, C	3	0	1	1	0	1	0	.187
Rizzo, 1B	3	0	0	0	1	1	0	.083
Lake, LF	3	1	1	1	1	0	0	.143
Olt, 3B	4	1	2	1	0	0	0	.182
Wood, P	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000
Valbuena, 3B	1	0	1	1	0	0	0	.429
TEAM TOTALS	32	7	10	7	6	6	1
BATTING: HR: Castro (2) RBI: Castro 3 (6), Lake (1), Valbuena (1), Castillo (2), Olt (1) SF: Castillo SAC: Wright
BASERUNNING: SB: Bonifacio (3)

Pittsburgh Pirates
PITCHERS	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR	ERA
Liriano (L, 0-1)	5.2	4	4	4	4	5	0	5.91
Hughes	0.1	2	0	0	0	0	0	0.00
Morris	0.2	1	0	0	2	1	0	0.00
Melancon	1.1	3	3	3	0	0	1	11.57
TEAM TOTALS	8.0	10	7	7	6	6	1

Chicago Cubs
PITCHERS	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR	ERA
Wood (W, 2-0)	6.0	4	1	1	3	7	0	2.31
Parker (H, 2)	1.0	0	0	0	0	0	0	6.23
Wright (H, 2)	1.0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0.00
Strop	1.0	0	0	0	0	0	0	6.00
TEAM TOTALS	9.0	4	1	1	3	8	0