The Pirates bullpen fell apart as the Bucs lost to the Chicago Cubs 9-5 last night at PNC Park.
The Cubs started by scoring 3 runs in the first inning, but the Pirates clawed back as Josh Bell hit a solo home run in the bottom of the 5th. In the bottom of the sixth, Bell struck again with an RBI Triple that scored Adam Frazier and David Freese. McCutchen singled on a soft grounder to third, that scored Josh Bell.
The Pirates bullpen surrendered the lead in the top of the 9th, with Wilson Contreras hit a double to score Jason Heyward, John Jay hit an RBI to score Contreras, Anthony Rizzo hit an RBI to score Kris Bryant, and Addison Russell finished the scoring for the Cubs with an RBI single to score Kyle Schwarber. In the bottom of the 9th, Fransisco Cervelli hit an RBI single to score Andrew McCutchen, but the Pirates could not score after that.
Juan Nicasio was given credit for the blown save and the loss, as three pitchers were needed in the top of the 9th to get the outs against the Cubs.
The Pirates and Cubs play again tonight starting at 7:55 PM on WCCS.
