Andrew McCutchen.
That’s it. That could pretty much be the recap.
OK, I’ll write a little more. Andrew McCutchen went 2-for-4 tonight with two doubles off of Jeff Samardzija, driving in two of the Pirates runs and scoring a third. Technically, that won’t move his June OBP up at all and it’ll actually bring his June SLG down slightly, which is just left of “completely insane” since it’s June 12th and the Pirates have only had one off-day this month. Russell Martin was also 2-for-4 with two doubles, driving in a run of his own.
Edinson Volquez was excellent tonight, scattering six hits in his seven shutout innings, striking out five and walking two. A lot of Volquez’s strikeouts came in huge spots; he got two in a row (Junior Lake and Anthony Rizzo) to end the third after the Cubs put runners on first and second with just one out. Another came to end the fifth with runners on second and third, and another one came with runners on second and third and one out in the sixth. Every time he needed to make a big pitch tonight, he did it.
The last thing worth noting from this one was Tony Watson, who struck out the side in the eighth with 15 ridiculously filthy pitches.
Three out of four from the Cubs. The Pirates are back to two under .500, and within 2 1/2 of the wild card spots. One of those spots is held by the Marlins. The Pirates play the Marlins this weekend.
