Pirates Give Up Historic Series to Rookie
PITTSBURGH -- The Pittsburgh Pirates had a series to forget against the Chicago Cubs at PNC Park this week, and that feeling is only accentuated by the accomplishments of an opposing rookie.
Cubs center fielder Pete Crow-Armstrong was a major catalyst in the team's sweep of the Pirates, finishing his trip to Pittsburgh with several games of three or more hits while swiping three or more bases and scoring four or more runs in a contest.
According to OptaSTATS, it's the first time an MLB rookie has hit all of those thresholds in a series during the league's modern era, which began in 1901.
The Cubs won the first game of the set by a score of 18-8 over the Pirates. Crow-Armstrong went 3-for-5 with three stolen bases while Chicago bombarded Domingo Germán and Brady Feigl for 14 runs over a four-inning span.
In game two, Jared Jones struggled in his first big league start since hitting the injured list with a lat strain on July 4. The Cubs scored five runs off of the right-hander in the fourth inning, his last frame of the game, before strolling to a 9-5 win. Crow-Armstrong was 0-for-3 with a walk and RBI in the contest.
Game three was simply an unmitigated disaster for the Pirates, who led 10-3 at the start of the seventh inning. After Paul Skenes departed, Chicago tagged Kyle Nicolas and Aroldis Chapman for five runs, cutting its deficit to 10-8 in the eighth inning.
David Bednar proceeded to blow his sixth save of the year in the top of the ninth, giving up five runs while his ERA ballooned to 6.32. Jalen Beeks allowed several inherited runners to score after he relieved Bednar, and the Cubs ultimately pulled off one of MLB's more prolific comebacks in recent years with a 14-10 victory.
Crow-Armstrong closed the series with a 4-for-4 performance that included an RBI single off of Skenes in the second inning.
After closing the first half with a .582 OPS, the former top prospect is slashing .274/.331/.470 since the All-Star break and is now up to 26 steals on the year while playing elite defense for Chicago.
The Pirates' record now sits at 62-71 overall and 7-18 in August. They are 10 1/2 games back of the final Wild Card spot in the National League.
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JACK MARKOWSKI