The Pittsburgh Pirates will have to wait until Thursday afternoon to try and do something they have not done since 1992; win their third consecutive series to begin a season.
Jason Hammel (2-0) had his second commanding performance against the Pirates in a week. Wandy Rodriguez (0-2) struggled through five innings of work, giving up nine hits, along with four earned runs as the Chicago Cubs cruised to a 7-5 win at a windy Wrigley Field.
The Cubs got off to a quick start compliments of you guessed it; Emilio Bonifacio. Bonifacio stroked his 15th hit of the season against the Bucs in the first, and Justin Ruggiano’s double drove in Bonafacio giving the Cubs an early 1-0 lead.
Rodriguez was able to avoid trouble in the third and fourth innings getting Mike Olt to ground out with two men on in the third and Bonifacio to strike out with runners in scoring position in the fourth.
Hammel was in complete control of the Pirates lineup until the top of the fifth. Pedro Alvarez hit his third home run of the season, an opposite field shot that tied the contest 1-1. It was the Pirates first hit of the game and the only hit that Hammel would give up through six innings.
The Cubs were able to stretch the lead in the bottom of the inning. A two-out bloop single by Anthony Rizzo proved costly as third baseman Mike Olt was able to get enough of a Rodriguez hanging curve and hit his second home run of the season to make the score 3-1. The next batter, Junior Lake left no doubt hitting a bomb onto Waveland Avenue to give the Cubs a 4-1 lead.
Bonifacio continued his torrid hitting with a lead off double in the sixth off reliever Jeanmar Gomez to start another big inning for the Cubs. An RBI double by Rizzo plated Bonifacio to make the score 5-1. Olt would then follow with an RBI single of his own, making the score 6-1. The Cubs were able to get their third run of the inning on an overturned double play call when Lake was ruled safe at first, allowing Rizzo to score making it 7-1 Cubs.
The Pirates did their best to make it interesting late. 7th inning solo HR’s by Travis Snider and Russell Martin made the score 7-3. In the ninth, Alvarez and Martin both hit their second HR’s of the game, to draw the game to 7-5. Unfortunately, all five bombs for the Pirates were solo shots, and Cubs reliever Carlos Strup was able to strike out Neal Walker and Travis Ishikawa to end any hopes of comeback in the ninth.
The Pirates will look to bounce back and go for the series win as Gerrit Cole (1-0) faces Travis Wood (0-1) Thursday afternoon at Wrigley. First pitch is scheduled for 2:20 PM.
