CHICAGO — JT Brubaker stood hunched over near third base, screaming out of desperation, trying his best to get the attention of his teammates. It was no use. Ian Happ's pop fly dropped, Willson Contreras reached second base without a play, and the Pirates' caravan of catastrophe had already left for an inning-long journey that turned Tuesday's game into a circus.
The Pirates struggled with so many things on a chilly night at Wrigley Field that their 7-0 loss to the Cubs once again felt like nothing more than a formality; there was absolutely no way, given their recent offensive struggles, they were capable of overcoming this.
Michael Chavis losing that ball in the lights hurt, but on this night, misery had company. Lots of it. Rodolfo Castro actually opened the inning with a throwing error, so when the third batter of the inning — right fielder Seiya Suzuki — doubled, it really felt like a punch to the gut for the Pirates.
Coupled with an early home run and Suzuki's two-base knock, designated hitter Frank Schwindel's double to left pushed the Cubs in front, 4-0, which is right about where things really spiraled out of control for the Pirates.
Second baseman Jonathan Villar hit a chopper to first that Yoshi Tsutsugo absolutely should have had, despite it being scored an error. Tsutsugo fumbled the ball, couldn't throw to Brubaker on time, and another run came across.
Frustration grew larger when the next batter, shortstop Ildemaro Vargas, hit a ball back to the pitcher, and Brubaker started a double play. However, a Cubs challenge and subsequent review determined that Villar beat out the throw to second, extending the inning and giving the Cubs another run.
Got all that? Good, because it was a lot, and probably the type of inning/night the Pirates can't wait to forget. If their recent offensive struggles weren't enough, now they're dealing with this?
Fundamentals were certainly a problem for the Pirates against the Cubs. It's not like the offensive part of their game improved much. Coming into this one with just four hits in their past 21 innings, the Pirates did not have multiple runners on base in any innings and failed to score a run for the second consecutive nights.
Dating back to the fifth inning of Saturday's 3-1 victory over the Reds, the Pirates have now scored just one run over their past 30 innings.
The Cubs actually grabbed the lead an inning before, when second baseman Jonathan Villar hit a home run that, per MLB research, would’ve been out of exactly one of 30 parks — Wrigley.
It came on a Brubaker sinker located middle-in. The ball landed in the first row of the center-field seats and gave the Cubs a 1-0 lead.
Pittsburgh nearly answered in the top of the fourth after Daniel Vogelbach collected his first MLB triple and his first anywhere since 2016 in the minor leagues. But Vogelbach was thrown out trying to score on Yoshi Tsutsugo’s fly ball to right field.
The end of that play produced some frustration for both teams, as Vogelbach and Cubs catcher Willson Contreras wound up jawing at one another. The benches and bullpens emptied, but nothing ever came of it.
Instead, the Cubs took control during that sloppy fourth inning.
What happened was actually unfortunate because Brubaker gave the Pirates a terrific start, one of the best they've had all season and also one of the better ones of his career. The right-hander allowed six runs (four earned) over 5 2/3 innings, but that should probably come with context.
The Chavis play was scored a hit because he never touched the ball. The one to Yoshi was also considered a hit because the official scorer contended the ball took an ugly bounce. Make the routine plays, it's a moot point. Scored differently, it would knock down that number of earned runs.
Stuff-wise, Brubaker had outstanding command of his slider and threw it 43% of the time, racking up 16 of his 19 whiffs by using his best weapon. Brubaker also got 15 called strikes while racking up a career-high 10 strikeouts.
