When the Pirates win, it’s in come-from-behind fashion, and that was the case again last night in their series opener against the Cubs.
Joe Block has the recap.
All six of the Bucs’ wins this year have come after trailing.
The triple hit by Pirates centerfielder Brian Reynolds was not the typical deep ball off the fence. It was a soft line drive against the shift, with Reynolds never breaking stride when he saw that the Cubs had no one covering third base. MLB confirmed that it was the softest-hit triple ever since the league began tracking exit velocity in 2015, at 49.4 miles per hour.
The second game of the four-game series is this afternoon. Former Cub Jose Quintana starts for the Pirates, looking for his first win of the season. The Cubs send Drew Smyly to the mound in a matchup of lefties. It’s a 1:55 airtime on WCCS.
The Pirates sent top pitching prospect Roansy Contreras to Indianapolis to stretch out his arm for a role in the starting rotation. Manager Derek Shelton said Contreras will, at some point, be a starter in Pittsburgh so they need to get him ready. Chase De Jong was called up to replace him and in a corresponding move to open up a space for De Jong on the 40-man roster, the Pirates designated Altoona pitcher Luis Oviedo for assignment.
ALTOONA
Altoona broke its three-game losing streak and swept their doubleheader with New Hampshire, 5-2 and 11-2. Will Mathiessen homered in the first game and Liover Peguero and Jack Suwinski were each 2-for-3 with a double.
In the second game, Peguero and Suwinski kept the bats going. Peguero was 3-for-4 with a double and three runs drive in and Suwinski was 3-for-3 again. Aaron Shackleford was also 2-for-3 for the Curve.
Tonight, the Curve will send right-hander Luis Ortiz to the mound tonight for the fourth game of the series.
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