Pittsburgh 3, Chi. Cubs 0
When: 7:05 PM ET, Wednesday, April 3, 2013
Where: PNC Park, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Temperature:
35°
Umpires:
Home -
Ron Kulpa, 1B -
Phil Cuzzi, 2B -
Chris Guccione, 3B -
Tom Hallion
Attendance:
27667
By SportsDirect Inc.
Pirates 3, Cubs 0: Wandy Rodriguez allowed two hits in 6 2/3 scoreless innings to lead host Pittsburgh to its first win of the season.
Rodriguez (1-0) struck out six, walked one and retired 12 in a row at one point. The lefty got all the support he needed in the fourth when Andrew McCutchen doubled in a run and scored on an error by Chicago shortstop Starlin Castro.
Edwin Jackson (0-1) was the tough-luck loser, yielding two runs on three hits in 5 2/3 frames while striking out five and walking one in his Cubs debut. The righty lost for the first time in five career decisions against the Pirates.
Garrett Jones led off the fourth with a base hit and McCutchen knocked him in with a double to left. After a grounder moved McCutchen to third, he came in when Castro - who easily led all shortstops with 27 errors last year - committed his first of 2013 on a Gaby Sanchez grounder.
Rodriguez loaded the bases with one out in the seventh, but struck out Brent Lillibridge after a 10-pitch battle and watched reliever Tony Watson get Alberto Gonzalez to fly to center. Starling Marte gave the Pirates some insurance with an RBI single in the bottom half and Jason Grilli got the last three outs for his sixth career save.
GAME NOTEBOOK: Cubs first baseman Anthony Rizzo hit the dirt in a scary moment after Rodriguez hit him on the shoulder with a fastball leading off the seventh. Rizzo remained in the game. ... Rodriguez has a 1.42 ERA in six April starts over the last two years. ... Pirates pitchers have totaled 24 strikeouts in the first two games.
Top Game Performances
Team Stats Summary
Team |
Hits |
HR |
TB |
Avg |
LOB |
K |
RBI |
BB |
SB |
Errors |
Chi. Cubs
|
2 |
0 |
2 |
.071 |
11 |
9 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
Pittsburgh
|
6 |
0 |
8 |
.207 |
12 |
7 |
3 |
3 |
1 |
0 |