Pirates done in by defensive lapses, blanked by Cubs in back-to-back games

After going 48 hours between hits, the Pittsburgh Pirates continued their search for offense. They might want to look for their defense while they’re at it.

JT Brubaker recorded a career-high 10 strikeouts, but the right-hander couldn’t count on Pirates infielders to make even the most routine defensive plays.

The Chicago Cubs took advantage of several defensive lapses in a five-run fourth inning on their way to a 7-0 win Tuesday night at Wrigley Field. It was the Pirates’ fifth shutout loss of the season, their first in back-to-back games after a 9-0 setback Monday night.

“We did not play well defensively,” Pirates manager Derek Shelton said. “We made some plays that cost us multiple runs and cost Bru pitches.”

Cubs starter Keegan Thompson (3-0) allowed four hits with no walks and five strikeouts in five innings, and the Pirates mustered only five total hits.

Brubaker was effective with his slider, as he got 22 swings and 16 whiffs on 40 sliders (73%) and another six called strikes. He allowed four earned runs on six hits and three walks, though the defense could be blamed for much of the damage he endured.

Brubaker (0-4) struck out four of the first seven batters he faced before giving up a solo home run to Jonathan Villar, who drove his 3-2 sinker 371 feet over the wall in left to give the Cubs a 1-0 lead.

The Pirates got an unexpected boost when 270-pound designated hitter Daniel Vogelbach hit a one-out standup triple – the first of his seven-year career – as the ball bounced away from left fielder Ian Happ.

The euphoria didn’t last long, as Yoshi Tsutsugo followed by hitting a deep fly to right that Seiya Suzuki caught and threw home to catcher Willson Contreras, who tagged Vogelbach out in front of the plate for a double play. Contreras took exception when Vogelbach knocked his face mask away and they got nose-to-nose for a tense exchange that caused both benches and bullpens to clear.

“I slid in and his mask went in my side. It just doesn’t feel good when a mask goes in your side so I threw it away, more than anything to get it away from me,” Vogelbach said. “I think he thought I was upset with him – I’m not really sure – but that’s about it from my side.”

That play, combined with porous defense by the Pirates, sparked a five-run fourth inning for the Cubs. It started with Rodolfo Castro bobbling a Contreras grounder to short then making a throw that pulled Tsutsugo off the bag at first. That error was followed by Castro and third baseman Michael Chavis allowing Happ’s pop fly to drop between them, and Chavis compounded the mishap by holding onto the ball as Contreras reached second base safely.

Instead of two easy outs, the Cubs had runners on first and second with no outs. A frustrated Brubaker gave up a two-run double to Suzuki to make it 3-0, walked Alfonso Rivas and gave up a ground-rule double to Frank Schwindel to score Suzuki for a 4-0 lead.

“I have to have faith in the guys behind me, just knowing that it was first and second, a pitch here for a double play ball and we’re one batter away from getting out of that inning and picking up the guys behind me,” Brubaker said. “Unfortunately, a double in the gap and off the end down the line for another double. That’s just how baseball is. Sometimes, it doesn’t go your way.”

Brubaker struck out Patrick Wisdom, but Tsutsugo bobbled a bouncer to first that saw Villar beat a diving Tsutsugo to the base for a single that scored Schwindel for a 5-0 lead.

It only got weirder from there, as Ildemaro Vargas grounded into a would-be 1-6-3 double play, but the Cubs challenged the call at second base and it was overturned, allowing Villar to score to make it 6-0.

The craziness continued in the eighth, when Christopher Morel made his major league debut by pinch-hitting for Wisdom. As Morel rallied from an 0-2 count, the Wrigley Field crowd was on its feet. He drilled Chase DeJong’s 3-2 fastball 417 feet to left for a home run and 7-0 Cubs lead.

“We lost. It sucks,” Brubaker said. “Anything can happen. It just happened that it didn’t bounce our way.”