The Pittsburgh Pirates have started the season 0-4 in our daily Out of the Park Baseball (OOTP) simulation of the 2020 season.
Chris Stratton takes the mound today for the Pirates, going up against Cubs right-hander Tyler Chatwood.
The inning-by-inning breakdown is below if you want to follow the game. Or you can skip to the bottom to see our quick recap and results (along with some interesting news and rumors.)
1st Inning
Adam Frazier drew a one-out walk, which was followed by a double off the left field wall by Josh Bell. Tyler Chatwood followed by striking out Gregory Polanco and Bryan Reynolds to get out of the inning.
Chris Stratton started off the inning with singles to Jason Heyward and Kris Bryant. He got Anthony Rizzo to ground into a double play, and got Javier Baez to ground out to third to escape the jam.
Pirates 0, Cubs 0
2nd Inning
Kevin Newman led off the second with a double to the right-center gap. Chatwood got Jacob Stallings to fly out to left, Colin Moran to ground out to short, and Chris Stratton to fly out to right to escape without any runs.
Kyle Schwarber took a 1-1 fastball from Chris Stratton deep, homering 397 feet to right field to put the Cubs up 1-0. Stratton gave up a one-out walk to Jason Kipnis, but had no further damage.
Cubs 1, Pirates 0
3rd Inning
Jarrod Dyson started off with a strikeout. Adam Frazier followed with a stand-up double. Josh Bell took a 3-2 pitch outside for ball four, putting runners on first and second. Gregory Polanco hit a ground ball, resulting in an out at second. Josh Bell broke up the double play with his slide, putting runners at the corners with two outs. Bryan Reynolds flew out to center to end the inning.
Stratton retired the side in order in the third, with two straight ground outs to Colin Moran at third base to end the inning.
Cubs 1, Pirates 0
4th Inning
Tyler Chatwood put the Pirates down in order in the fourth, getting Kevin Newman, Jacob Stallings, and Colin Moran.
Stratton also retired the side in order in the bottom half of the inning. He ended the inning at 51 pitches for the game so far.
Cubs 1, Pirates 0
5th Inning
Jarrod Dyson hit a one-out triple to the wall in right field. Adam Frazier followed by ripping a 1-0 pitch down the left field line for a double, tying the score. The Cubs intentionally walked Josh Bell to put runners on first and second with one out. Gregory Polanco struck out, bringing up Bryan Reynolds with two outs.
Reynolds connected on a line drive triple to the left-center gap, scoring both Frazier and Bell, and putting the Pirates up 3-1. Chatwood walked Kevin Newman and retired Jacob Stallings to end the inning.
Stratton was a ground ball machine in the fifth, getting three straight grounders. Albert Almora Jr. reached for a single on a slow grounder to second, but was erased by a 6-4-3 double play against pinch hitter David Bote, who replaced Chatwood with two outs.
Pirates 3, Cubs 1
6th Inning
Left-handed pitcher Brad Wieck came on in relief and set the Pirates down in order, striking out Dyson to end the inning.
Jason Heyward started the sixth with a line drive double off the wall. Kris Bryant hit a double down the third base line, scoring Heyward to bring the Cubs within one. Bryant moved to third on a sacrifice fly to center field by Rizzo. Stratton struck out Javier Baez with an 0-2 changeup to get the second out.
Kyle Schwarber came up with two outs and hit a fly ball to left-center field. Jarrod Dyson ranged over to make the catch, getting out of the inning with the Pirates in the lead.
Pirates 3, Cubs 2
7th Inning
Wieck stayed on for the Cubs, getting Adam Frazier to ground out to start the inning. Josh Bell followed with a double down the third base line, which sent the Cubs to the bullpen for Jeremy Jeffress. The Pirates went down in order.
Stratton put two runners on to start the seventh, bringing up pinch hitter Victor Caratini, who grounded into a 4-6-3 double play. With a runner at third and two outs, Ian Happ came on to pinch hit for Jeffress. Stratton got Happ to ground out back to the mound to end the inning.
Pirates 3, Cubs 2
8th Inning
Brandon Morrow came on in relief for the Cubs in the eighth. Jacob Stallings started off with a single. Colin Moran followed with a single through the right side of the infield, moving Stallings to third with no outs. Morrow was checked on by the trainer, and removed from the game after an apparent back issue.
The Cubs brought on right-handed pitcher Trevor Megill. The Pirates pinch-hit Kevin Kramer for Stratton. Kramer struck out. Jarrod Dyson followed with a 3-2 walk to load the bases with one out. Adam Frazier took the next pitch deep to center field, hitting a 422 foot grand slam to put the Pirates up 7-2. The home run had an exit velocity of 104.4 MPH.
Megill walked Gregory Polanco with two outs. Casey Sadler came on to pitch, and got Bryan Reynolds to ground out to end the half inning.
Dovydas Neverauskas came on in relief in the bottom of the eighth. Kris Bryant hit a one-out single. Anthony Rizzo reached on an infield single on a deep grounder to Kevin Newman at short. Neverauskas got Javier Baez swinging at a 98 MPH fastball for the second out. Kyle Schwarber grounded out to second to end the inning.
Pirates 7, Cubs 2
9th Inning
Sadler returned to the mound in the ninth for the Cubs and set the Pirates down in order.
Neverauskas also returned for the ninth inning, and started off by striking out Willson Contreras on a 95 MPH fastball. He followed up by striking out Jason Kipnis with a 94 MPH cutter. Steven Souza Jr. came on to pinch hit for Sadler. Neverauskas struck him out on a 98 MPH fastball to end the game.
GAME RESULTS
BOX SCORE
DAILY NOTES
Rumor has it Ke’Bryan Hayes will be called up tomorrow…
UPDATED STANDINGS
WHAT’S NEXT
The Pirates take on the Cubs tomorrow at 2:20 PM EST in the deciding game of the series. Chris Archer (0-1, 9.64) takes the mound for the Pirates, going up against right-handed pitcher Yu Darvish (0-1, 3.00).
Thursday is the home opener for the Pirates. The game is at 1:35 PM EST against the Reds. Joe Musgrove (0-1, 4.50) goes up against Trevor Bauer (0-1, 7.20). Since it’s a special game, we’ll be trying out a live recap, starting at game time. Be sure to join us!
