Bucs end slide as bats awaken for Musgrove
Last weekend in San Francisco, veteran infielder David Freese was
talking about Joe Musgrove and
the Pirates' young rotation. He stopped in the middle of a sentence, laughed
and said simply, "We love Joe on the mound, man." The Bucs showed it
on Saturday night, and it was easy to understand why they feel that way.
After being shut out in a pair of one-run losses the past
two days, the Pirates backed up Musgrove's seven-inning gem and snapped their
five-game losing streak with a 3-1 win over the Cubs at PNC Park.
The Pirates players love how competitive Musgrove is.
Like Ivan Nova and Trevor Williams the
past two nights, Musgrove's only blemish was a solo home run. Ben Zobrist took him
deep to right field in the third inning. Musgrove otherwise mowed down
Chicago's lineup, striking out seven while allowing only five hits on 87
pitches.
After finishing last season in the Astros' bullpen,
Musgrove has established himself as one of the Pirates' most consistent
starters. He has pitched at least seven innings in five of his last six starts
and put together a 2.52 ERA over his last eight outings, lowering his ERA on
the year to 3.31.
The 25-year-old right-hander consistently got ahead of
hitters, throwing a first-pitch strike to 18 of the 27 he faced, and then used
everything in his deep arsenal to silence the Cubs lineup. He mixed low sinkers
with four-seam fastballs up in the zone. He leaned heavily on his slider in the
early going, throwing the pitch 23 times, and turned to his changeup in the
later innings. The Cubs swung and missed at six of the 18 changeups he threw.
The only difference between Musgrove on Saturday,
Williams on Friday and Nova on Thursday? Run support, oddly enough, considering
Pittsburgh had only won two of Musgrove's previous six starts.
It all came in one inning against right-hander Tyler Chatwood, starting
for the Cubs in place of injured lefty Mike Montgomery. Josh Bell and Francisco
Cervelli began the second with a pair of walks against
Chatwood, who leads the Majors by a wide margin with 93 walks this season. Up
came second baseman Adam Frazier,
making his first start since Wednesday.
Frazier fell behind Chatwood then lined an 0-2 changeup
to center field, driving in Bell and ending the Pirates' 24-inning scoreless
streak. The bottom of the order padded Pittsburgh's lead with a pair of productive
outs, as Colin Moran's
grounder to first base brought home Cervelli and Frazier scored on a sacrifice
fly by Adeiny Hechavarria.
MOMENTS THAT MATTERED
Leading man: Dickerson had struggled since coming off the disabled list on
Aug. 4, batting just .188 with a .404 OPS over his previous 13 games. But if
Saturday was any indication, the Pirates' dynamic leadoff hitter is rounding
back into form.
Dickerson slapped a single to left in his first at-bat,
walked in the third, singled to right in the fifth and capped his night with a
seventh-inning double to center.
"He's gotten in a better place. He can hit,"
Hurdle said. "Sometimes you go through cycles. All hitters do. I love the
way he shows up every day. He always feels that today's the day he's going to
get something done special. He was able to give us a big shot in the arm up
top."
SOUND SMART
Musgrove picked up his first win at PNC Park since May 30, his second start of
the season, when he also held the Cubs to one run over seven innings. Musgrove
is just 5-7 on the year despite owning the best ERA and WHIP in Pittsburgh's
rotation.
Why did Musgrove bunt with one out and nobody on? He said
he got jammed so badly in his second-inning at-bat that he couldn't swing
again. So he told bench coach Tom Prince, "I'm going to bunt or
something." Prince gave him the go-ahead, so Musgrove asked Josh Harrison where
he should aim his bunt.
Contreras -- who had just bunted for a hit against
Musgrove in the fifth -- got to the ball first, but too late.
TRAINER’S ROOM
CUBS: Zobrist
replaced OF Ian Happ in the lineup. Happ entered as a pinch hitter in the
seventh and reached first on an error by Frazier before taking over in
center field in the bottom half of the inning. Happ had one of
Chicago’s six hits Friday, but struck out twice in four at-bats.
PIRATES: After
losing 1-0 for a second straight game Friday, Pittsburgh made two lineup
adjustments, with Frazier replacing Josh Harrison at second base and Moran
taking over for David Freese at third. Harrison, who had an error in the sixth
inning, and Freese were a combined 1 for 7 Friday.
UP NEXT
CUBS: LHP Jose
Quintana (10-9, 4.46) will attempt to regain his form when he takes the mound
for the series finale against the Pirates on Sunday. In his past four starts,
Quintana has allowed at least five runs three times, including in each of his
past two appearances.
PIRATES: RHP
Jameson Taillon (9-9, 3.66) will bring momentum from his recent starts when he
faces the Cubs on Sunday. He has allowed three earned runs or fewer in 14
straight starts since surrendering six on eight hits in a 7-2 loss to the
Cincinnati Reds on May 22.
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