The “Friendly Confines” of Wrigley Field were anything but friendly as the Chicago Cubs attacked Pirates starter Dillon Peters en route to a 9-0 win in the series opener last night.
Joe Block has the recap.
Game two is tonight at Wrigley Field. J.T. Brubaker (0-3, 5.34 ERA) goes for the Pirates. Opposing him is Keegan Thompson (2-0, 1.67 ERA). Airtime 7:15 on Fox Sports 100.9.
It goes without saying that the Pirates’ offense has struggled in recent games. Prior to Chavis’ single in the fifth, the Pirates went 13 consecutive innings without mustering a hit. In addition, the Bucs have only scored one run within the past 18 innings played. That run coming in Sunday’s game when Ke’Bryan Hayes drove in a run off a fielder’s choice.
As of this morning, the Pirates are ranked 23rd in batting average (.225) and 11th in strikeouts (305).
Pirates manager Derek Shelton said that his team has witnessed some weird games recently.
Shelton adds that he hopes the younger guys are learning from this skid.
The Pirates announced yesterday that they have claimed C Tyler Heineman off waivers from the Toronto Blue Jays and, as a corresponding move, designated C Andrew Knapp for assignment.
The 30-year-old switch-hitting catcher hit .267 with a pair of doubles and one RBI through 10 games with the Blue Jays. Defensively, he has a caught stealing percentage of 35 percent.
Shelton talked about what the Pirates saw in the veteran backstop.
Heineman marks the fifth catcher the Pirates have signed this year… if you count emergency back-up catcher Josh VanMeter.
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