The final score was closer than the game was. The Cubs hit six homers and collected 21 hits in an 11-6 pasting of the Pirates. The Buccos have dropped five straight. Kevin Correia was bombed. The offense showed some signs of life with three homers. It wasn’t nearly enough.
Correia was pulled after getting no one out in the third inning. He gave up a first inning run. Pittsburgh took the lead back off Randy Wells in the bottom of the first when Garrett Jones homered. The fun stopped there. In the top of the second, Tyler Colvin’s solo blast tied the score and landed in the Allegheny on a bounce. After Darwin Barney beat the relay on a one out grounder with a runner on first to extend the inning, Aramis Ramirez – who had the first inning RBI – hit a three run dinger.
Geovany Soto hit a two run homer in the third and Alfonso Soriano followed with a solo blast that sent Correia to the showers. Tony Watson allowed solo homers to Marlon Byrd and Soriano in the fourth inning, making it 10-2 Cubbies. Ball game.
Castro drove in a run in the seventh to make it 11-2. Pittsburgh collected four late ‘oh by the way’ runs. Jones homered again in the eight and Brandon Wood homered later in the same inning with Neil Walker on board. Both blows came against Ramon Ortiz. Jones skied a sac fly in the bottom of the ninth for the final run of the game.
Correia allowed eight runs in two plus innings. He gave up 10 hits and struck out two. Wells went six and gave up two runs. He struck out five and gave up seven hits.
The Good
The offense scored six runs and hit three bombs.
Jones – can he get hot enough to carry this team like July 2009? Please?
The Bad
The pitching – ugh!
The offense whiffed ten times.
Falling to .500.
The Rest
Wells came into the game 2-2 against Pittsburgh. Correia began the contest 3-3 against the Cubbies. Correia has allowed more than eight earned runs in a single start just once in his career – back on 8/26/10 against Arizona.
Starlin Castro had his second straight three hit game.
The Cubs last hit six homers in a game on 9/17/06. They last hit more than six homers in a game on 5/17/77. Buccos last gave up six dingers on 8/9/06 (Shawn Chacon started and Victor Santos relieved). You have to go back to 7/8/56 for the last time the Pirates allowed seven dingers.
This was the fourth time Jones hit two homers in a game. His last such effort was 7/28/10 against Colorado. This was the third time in his career he knocked in at least four runs and the first time in 2011.
Prior to Colvin’s long blast, Jones had the previous two homers that got wet. The last visitor to poke one into the waterway was Colby Rasmus on 5/15/09. This was the first riverball of 2011.
This was Soriano’s 28th career multi-homer game and his second in 2011.
Ramirez has knocked in four or more runs 39 times in his career. This was his first four RBI game in 2011.
There was an interesting play in the bottom of the first (when I was still optimistic). Andrew McCutchen reached on a single. He attempted to steal second but was pulled back after Jones fouled one off. On the next pitch he didn’t go but Soto for some reason thought he did and rifled the ball into center. McCutchen moved up on the play even though he wasn’t even trying to steal. Very odd. Don’t think I’ve seen that happen before.
