The following is part of our simulation of the 2020 Pittsburgh Pirates season, using Out of the Park Baseball (OOTP). We simulate the season each day, as it was originally scheduled, and with no input from any of us, all to give you a Pirates team to follow this year. You can follow the simulation by inning and make it seem like a game, or you can skip to the end and find out what happens.
The Pirates, sitting at 13-16 with three straight losses, will try to get back on track tonight against the Chicago Cubs. Trevor Williams will make the start, still bothered a bit by a finger blister from his last outing.
Lineups
1st Inning
Dyson pops out to first. Frazier grounds out to short. Bell singles and Polanco draws a walk. Reynolds singles to right to give the Pirates a 1-0 lead. Newman strikes out.
Happ flies out to right. Schwarber flies out to center. Baez grounds out to short.
Pirates 1, Cubs 0
2nd Inning
Hayes grounds out to third. Maile flies out to right. Williams strikes out.
Rizzo leads off the bottom half of the inning with a single to right. Heyward follows with a single up the middle and Rizzo stops at second. Caratini strikes out. Bote strikes out looking. Almora flies out to center.
Pirates 1, Cubs 0
3rd Inning
Chatwood strikes out Dyson to start the inning. Adam Frazier hits a home run to right field to give the Pirates a 2-0 lead. Josh Bell lines a single to right. Polanco singles to center. Reynolds flies out to center. Newman grounds to short, but a throwing error by Baez keeps the inning alive. Bell scores on the play, and the runners move to second and third. Hayes is intentionally walked, and Maile grounds out to first to end the inning.
Chatwood pops out to shallow right field. Happ draws a walk. Schwarber flies out to right. Baez doubles to right, with Happ holding up at third. Rizzo singles to right, scoring two runs. A passed ball by Maile allows Rizzo to move to second. Heyward grounds out to first.
Pirates 3, Cubs 2
4th Inning
Williams flies out to left. Dyson walks. Frazier grounds into a 4-6-3 double play.
Caratini flies out to right. Bote singles up the middle. Williams picks Bote off at first. Almora doubles to center. Chatwood flies out to center.
Pirates 3, Cubs 2
5th Inning
Bell flies out to deep left center to start the inning. Polanco grounds out to short. Reynolds lines out to right field.
Happ singles up the middle to start the inning. Schwarber homers to right field, giving the Cubs the lead. Baez flies out to center. Rizzo grounds out to second. Heyward flies out to left.
Cubs 4, Pirates 3
6th Inning
Newman starts off with a single through the left side of the infield. Hayes flies out to left. Rowan Wick comes on to pitch for the Cubs. He strikes out Maile. Kevin Kramer enters as a pinch hitter for Williams. Wick strikes him out.
Edgar Santana comes in to pitch for the Pirates. Victor Caratini takes the first pitch over the right field wall for a home run. Bote grounds out back to the mound. Almora walks. Steven Souza Jr. comes in to pinch hit and doubles to left, putting runners on second and third. Dovydas Neverauskas comes in and gets Happ to ground out to first, with the runners holding. Schwarber is intentionally walked, and Neverauskas strikes out Baez swinging.
Cubs 5, Pirates 3
7th Inning
Jeremy Jeffress comes in to pitch for the Cubs. Dyson flies out to left-center. Frazier pops out to third. Bell singles to left field. Polanco grounds out to second.
Neverauskas strikes out Rizzo. Blake Weiman enters the game and walks Heyward. Weiman follows with back-to-back strikeouts.
Cubs 5, Pirates 3
8th Inning
Reynolds grounds out to second. Newman flies out to left. Brandon Morrow comes in for the Cubs. Hayes singles to right. Maile hits into a 5-4 fielder’s choice.
James Marvel enters to pitch for the Pirates. He strikes out Almora. Hernan Perez comes in to pinch hit and grounds out to short. Marvel strikes out Happ to end the inning.
Cubs 5, Pirates 3
9th Inning
Craig Kimbrel enters to close it out for the Cubs. Colin Moran comes in as a pinch hitter and strikes out. Dyson grounds out to first. Frazier draws a walk on a low 3-2 pitch to keep the Pirates alive. Bell grounds out back to the mound to end the game.
GAME RESULTS
BOX SCORE
GAME NOTES
UPDATED STANDINGS
WHAT’S NEXT
Probable Starters
Wednesday, 2:20 PM EST: Chris Archer (3-1, 2.31) vs Yu Darvish (0-4, 5.61)
Thursday: OFF
Friday, 7:10 PM EST: Joe Musgrove (1-3, 2.87) vs Jose Urena (1-2, 4.60)
Saturday, 6:10 PM EST: Mitch Keller (2-3, 4.29) vs Sandy Alcantara (1-3, 4.28)
Sunday, 1:10 PM EST: Chris Stratton (2-2, 3.09) vs Jordan Yamamoto (0-0, 2.84)
