Despite being officially eliminated over the weekend, the Pittsburgh Pirates (79-76) defeated the Chicago Cubs (91-65) on Monday evening, 5-1. They are in no mood to give up and want to finish with a winning record.
Behind Pablo Reyes, Francisco Cervelli and Jameson Taillon, the Pirates proved that.
Pittsburgh opened the game with a two-run home run from Cervelli, his 12th of the season. They were off and running against Cole Hamels, who fell to 9-11.
Hamels settled in pretty well after the home run and ended up striking out seven. He allowed five hits and walked two. Hamels also helped his own cause in the third inning with a lead-off home run against Taillon.
In the sixth inning, Jose Osuna doubled to right field off of Hamels and Cervelli scored to get out to a 3-1 lead. One inning later, it was Reyes getting in on the action with a single to left. The lead grew to three.
The steaming-hot rookie made his mark indelible on the game when he homered off of Brian Duensing in the ninth for insurance.
While the offense was humming, Taillon did his thing on the mound again. He went another seven solid innings giving up only one run and striking out five. He got his 14th win and lowered his ERA to 3.16 on the season. It was his 21st straight start allowing three earned runs or less. Only Jacob DeGrom of the Mets has more (28).
The Pirates now only need two wins to guarantee a winning season as it’s likely the rain out scheduled for Oct. 1, won’t happen.
Three Takeaway’s
- Taillon has been very good against National League Central opponents: According to play-by-play broadcaster Joe Block, Taillon has been very good against the Cubs, St. Louis Cardinals and Milwaukee Brewers this season. In 63 innings against those three teams, he owns a 2.29 ERA. The Pirates have aspirations of becoming a good team next season. They currently are the fourth best team in their division. If they want to be a playoff contender next season, they need their ace to do the same thing.
- Can a winning record really be a positive for 2018: The Pirates only need two more wins to assure that they won’t have a losing record. In some eyes, they weren’t expected to be close after the trades of Andrew McCutchen and Gerrit Cole. Other people said the Pirates were better for it. In theory, it is a great thing for confidence heading into next season as the new core could get the first winning season since 2015. It depends on your point of view, but it seems like it’s a positive for them.
- Is it maybe time to lighten Richard Rodriguez’s load: Rodriguez has cemented himself in the Pirates bullpen. He’s been as good as any rookie relief pitcher in the league this year. The games are meaningless the rest of the way. He’s worked 68.2 innings in 2018. The Pirates hut down Keone Kela for the same reason a few weeks ago, his workload. It might be time to let other guys eat those innings over the final week here.
What’s Ahead?
On Tuesday evening at 8:05 p.m., the Pirates and Cubs will play game two of their four game set at Wrigley Field.
RHP Chris Archer (5-8, 4.49 ERA) takes the hill for the visiting Pittsburgh Pirates. For the home team Cubs, big 6’5″ LHP Mike Montgomery (5-5, 3.75 ERA) will be throwing.
Archer had his best start as a Pirate last week against the Royals as he went seven strong innings allowing only one run. Montgomery has a 2.93 ERA over his last seven starts.
The game will be broadcast on AT&T SportsNet.
PHOTO: Jameson Taillon delivers a pitch in the Pirates’ 5-1 win over the Chicago Cubs on Monday. (Courtesy of @Pirates on Twitter)
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