Cubs pound out 21 hits, steal 8 bases in blowout win over Pirates |
PITTSBURGH - The Chicago Cubs (66-66) haven't had the best luck against the Pittsburgh Pirates (62-69) this season, but they are about to get very familiar with them as six of their next nine games are against the Pirates. That includes three this week at PNC Park as the Cubs are set to finish their slate at PNC this week.
Any time you have an opportunity to pile up wins against last-place teams, you can't let those opportunities go to waste, as the Cubs are still alive and in an excellent position to make some noise. The ideal scenario would be a sweep, but looking at the pitching matchups with Paul Skenes lingering on Wednesday, taking two of three is a must. Even at that, things won't be easy as the Cubs will be facing the Pirates top three arms which started with Mitch Keller on Monday. Already an 11-game winner, Keller has put up excellent numbers against the Cubs, and with Jameson Taillon on a massive skid, this was the Wild Card game for the Cubs to take this series. Going back to July 29, Taillon has posted a 6.84 ERA and has had just one good outing, which came against the Cleveland Guardians. This was another one of those games where he wasn't perfect, allowing four runs in 6 2/3, but when your offense picks up 21 hits and backs you with 18 runs of support, you don't have to be at your best as the Cubs pounded the Pirates 18-8. Keller was in a similar boat to Taillon, where he wasn't great, but with only three runs allowed in four innings, he did enough to keep his team in the game. Those runs came in a span of two innings, with Pete Crow-Armstrong and Miguel Amaya picking up a pair of RBI singles in the second to put the Cubs in front before the Cody Bellinger double extended their lead to 3-0 in the third. Cubbies put two on the board in the second inning! pic.twitter.com/weriWi5Q89 For Taillon, most of the damage off him came in the bottom of the third, and it came after he was very sharp in his first two innings. All it took was a Jared Triolo leadoff triple to get things started as he came in to score on the Ji Hwan Bae groundout. After Isiah Kiner-Falefa was robbed of an extra-base hit by Ian Happ, Bryan Reynolds got into a Taillon off-speed pitch and took it over the right field fence to pull the Pirates within 3-2. Chicago was able to get out of that inning without any further damage, but given the hard contact that Taillon endured, you had to be a bit concerned. Anytime PCA gets on base, you can almost guarantee that it will turn into a double, as he opened up the fourth with a leadoff walk before stealing second and third. Crow-Armstrong had three of the Cubs' eight steals in the game, which was something they hadn't done in more than 100 years. Pedal to the metal in PIT 💨 Still holding a 3-2 lead in the sixth and with Domingo German on the mound, the Cubs used a patient approach at the plate to rattle him before breaking the game open. It all started with a leadoff walk to Dansby Swanson as he advanced to third on a Crow-Armstrong single a few pitches later, and it was Miguel Amaya coming through as his RBI double put the Cubs in front 5-2 and still no one out. Amaya stays hot! His third RBI tonight! 👏 pic.twitter.com/bcDhqbgOOT Over the past month, the bottom of the lineup has been performing at an elite level, including Amaya, hitting .353 since the all-star break. That includes four more hits tonight for his first career four-hit game. Already with two runs across in the sixth, the Cubs kept the pressure on as an RBI single from Seiya Suzuki and a bases-loaded walk pushed the lead to 7-2 and had German reeling as he threw 47 pitches in that half of an inning. None was bigger than his first pitch to Swanson, who was coming to bat for a second time. He turned on an inside heater and cranked it out of the yard for a grand slam, and the Cubs scored eight times in that inning to break the game open 11-2. Dansby Swanson - Chicago Cubs (11) With Taillon sitting at 71 pitches entering the seventh, there was a great shot for him to finish things off, which all changed after the first two batters reached to begin the bottom of the seventh. That was followed by a Triolo groundout and a Bae single as the Pirates refused to go down without a fight, pulling within 11-4 and summoning a call to Ethan Roberts and the pen. Already with a massive lead, Isaac Paredes kept the party going with a solo shot to push the Cubs lead to 12-4 in the eighth, but with the Pirates tacking on two more runs to stay within 12-6, this game was far from over. Isaac Paredes - Chicago Cubs (19) Leave it to the offense to put the game away in the ninth as they continued to do plenty of damage no matter who the Pirates threw out there. This time, it was a Michael Busch RBI single getting things started, as every one of the Cubs starters had a hit in the game. A Suzuki followed the Busch single only to have Bellinger double home another run to extend the lead to 14-6 with Paredes tacking on an additional single to make this a 15-6 game. That was only the beginning of a six-run ninth inning as Rowdy Tellez took over to pitch and allowed three more runs, with two coming on a bases-loaded hit by a pitch to Amaya and a bases-loaded walk to Mike Tauchman. The other run came off the bat of Luis Vazquez, who delivered his first MLB RBI with a sacrifice fly to stretch the lead to 16-6 before those other two runs made this an 18-6 game. Pittsburgh managed to tack on two more runs off the Cubs bullpen in the ninth as Jack Neely served up a two-run shot to Connor Joe, but it wasn't enough as the Cubs hammered the Pirates 18-8. As mentioned, every Cubs that started had at least one hit, with Amaya and Suzuki leading the way with four. Miguel Amaya doubles to record his 1st career 4-hit game! pic.twitter.com/uox3hfzLf3 PCA tacked on three hits from the No. 8 spot, with Ian Happ, Bellinger, Nico Hoerner, and Paredes all adding multi-hit games. Chicago will look to clinch another series as they turn to Justin Steele as, he will face the young righty Jared Jones. Season-high in runs ✅ Started the series with a dub ✅
The #Cubs had 8 stolen bases tonight totaling the most in a game since September 17, 1911. pic.twitter.com/1QYPkwNxSS
pic.twitter.com/ouFVpuSJBt
pic.twitter.com/ORoObEi071
Swanson: Grand slam, BB, 4 RBI, 2 R
Amaya: 4-for-5, 4 RBI, 2 R
Crow-Armstrong: 3-for-5, 3 SB, RBI, 2 R pic.twitter.com/AzLWWoe4gj
