Chicago CubsvsPittsburgh Pirates
CHC 3/PIT 2
Things to say
The Cubs beat the Pirates 3-2 in 10 innings at PNC Park.
01
opener
Cubs took it 3-2 in extras up in Pittsburgh. Real grind of a game, nobody could break it open for nine. Then Chicago pushed one across in the tenth and that was the ballgame.
02
key player
Chicago's pen was the story for me. Whoever slammed the door in the tenth earned it, that heart of the order was cooking and they got him to chase.
03
hot take
Pirates deserved better. Two runs at home in ten innings, that's a lineup problem, not bad luck. They're wasting the pitching.
04
deep cut
Both starters went deep and dealt, low WHIP night all around. This one was decided by the bullpens and the free runner in the tenth, not the bats.
05
exit
Anyway, Cubs are rolling at 58-45, curious if they can keep it up. Let's see what they do the rest of this series.
The recap
Cubs grind out a 3-2 win at PNC in ten innings, the kind of low-scoring slog where every base runner feels like a rally. Both starters clearly got into their stuff early because nobody could string anything together against them, and it stayed knotted up until the extra frame.
Chicago finally pushed across the go-ahead run in the tenth and the bullpen slammed the door on Pittsburgh in the bottom half. The Pirates drop another close one and sink to 53-51, while the Cubs keep rolling at 58-45.