Game Thirty-Seven – Cubs 0, Pirates 3
WP – A.J. Burnett (3-1) LP – Jake Arrieta (4-4) Save – Mark Melancon (9)
The Cubs managed only three hits over seven innings against A.J. Burnett. Jake Arrieta gave up one run in seven innings on a bloop double and a single. But on a day with the wind howling out at Wrigley, the Cubs had one extra basehit and lost for the first time in a week on Sunday afternoon.
The six-game winning streak came to an end, but a 6-1 homestand should only be viewed as a success for the Cubs. The Cubs won the series against the Pirates, two games to one, and at least Maddon got his Meat Loaf this weekend.
Jake Arrieta pitched a very good game and was hung with a loss. Once Kris Bryant left in the fifth inning with an undisclosed illness, the offense lost a big bat and A.J. Burnett just pounded the outside part of the plate.
The Pirates’ run off Jake Arrieta came in the fifth inning. Josh Harrison reached on a bloop, hustle double to center that fell in between Starlin Castro and Dexter Fowler. And Harrison scored on a single to right by Francisco Cervelli.
Jake Arrieta was charged with one run on five hits with a walk and seven strikeouts. Arrieta made 106 pitches in seven innings, 64 for strikes.
The Pirates put the game away in the eighth against Zac Rosscup. Francisco Cervelli continued getting hits off Cubs’ pitching and reached on an infield single. A sac bunt from Sean Rodriguez put Cervelli in scoring position. Zac Rosscup could not get out of the inning before serving up two, two-out doubles to Neil Walker and Starling Marte that gave the Pirates two more runs.
Zac Rosscup allowed up two runs on three hits with two walks and two strikeouts in the eighth inning. Brian Schlitter pitched a 1-2-3 ninth inning.
The Cubs had chances against A.J. Burnett due to the five walks he issued Sunday afternoon. Three of the Cubs five hits came off Burnett and the Cubs went 0-for-7 with runners in scoring position while leaving nine men on base.
The Cubs best scoring chance came in the fourth inning. The Cubs loaded the bases on a one-out walk by Anthony Rizzo (0-for-2 with two walks), a single from Starlin Castro (1-for-3 with a walk) and a Miguel Montero (1-for-3 with a walk) walk. But the umpire took the bat out of Soler’s hand. Jorge Soler was called out on strikes and Chris Coghlan (1-for-4) flied out to the track in left to end the inning.
Addison Russell (1-for-3 with a double and a walk) had the Cubs only extra basehit. Kris Bryant went 1-for-2 before he left the game.
The offense totaled five hits and six walks while striking out eight times. There was a lot of hard contact and a lot of atom balls on Sunday afternoon from Cubs’ hitters.
With Sunday’s loss, the Cubs slipped to 21-16 on the season.
Monday is an off day for the Cubs, a much-needed break after 17 straight games. The Cubs open a six-game road trip Tuesday night (9:10pm CDT) with the first of three against the Padres. Jason Hammel is scheduled to take on James Shields in game one.