Cubs vs. Pirates Game Highlights | 9/3/24

Tonight. It's the Pirates and the Chicago Cubs here in game two of this three game series, it's going to be a rematch, Paul Skeins and Kyle Hendrix and for Skeens it is the lowest in baseball since he debuted back on May 11th against these Cubs. A 223 earned run average one, the lowest for a Pirates starting pitcher in the live ball era. That's how good he has been this season. 67, five, a, that's the worst, er, a in baseball. So he knows it's got to be better and hoping for a nice outing from Kyle here tonight. The shortstop Isaiah Kerle steps to the plate line drive out of the air sws it to his right. The gold glover making the play on a hard hit liner. Here's Brian Reynolds popped up , has it. And that is out number two that will bring up o'neal Cruz bounced to third waiting on it. Cared to first in time and get kyle able to get a 123 cubs come to bat in the bottom of the first inning. Paul Skeins taking the mound for the Pirates. Very disappointing August for Paul Skes an er a of 318 in his five starts. First pitch swinging boy put a charge into that. He did one pitch one out Michael Bush at the plate. He gets the strikeout of Michael Busch. That's 137 on the season for schemes and this is his 19th major league start. Now. Seu Suzuki stands in a line drive that's up the middle and it will be a base hit and a two out single for Seau Suzuki Bellinger draws a walk. Now the bases are loaded after Pereda draws a walk. Here comes Niko. They're all loaded up ground ball shortstop flips to second for the out bases left loaded. Nothing, nothing after one, two away. Top two Cubs and Pirates are scoreless and nick Gonzalez at the plate, there's a base hit a two out single for nick Gonzalez four pitch walk from Hendrix. Now the Pirates have the bases loaded with two outs as the Cubs did and it will be Jared Triolo with the last three times. He's faced Hendricks. He's gotten a hit in all of them including a home run on the ground to third parade is up with it over to Busch and kyle gets out of it. It's a leadoff single and Swanson stays hot. Here's Pete Crow Armstrong big lead for Swanson not going the pitch swing and a miss struck him out on another changeup beneath the zone. Gaines has his second strikeout and christian Betancourt continues to hit the, at the corner 2 to 2 pitch swing and a miss struck him out on a perfectly placed down and away changeup in the zone and he has his second strikeout of the inning. That's what makes him so good. It's pretty remarkable. Third walk aces loaded for the Cubs again and now it's Suzuki. You can see he's laboring, no doubt having a tough time his 25 in the first inning. Another 25 here half swing tapper back to Skes. So twice the Cubs lead the bases loaded against Paul Skeens and it's still nothing, nothing. And the Pirates have something going here in the third. Back to back singles to begin the frame two Pirates are on for Cruz swinging a ground ball to second on to short. There's one relay and they call safe and he beat it out on the back end. And so a 4 to 6 force on reynolds puts runners at the corners with one out for Mccutchen. He's going, it's a ball throw down and a stolen base for Cruz number 21 that takes away the double play opportunities high fly ball to center. This will give the Pirates the lead, andrew Mccutchen, the sacrifice fly and as Cruz cruises into third scoring IKF productive at bat and Then the Pirates lead one to 02 outs for rowdy Tale and the pitch swinging a liner ticking off of Bush's glove deadening into right field. Cruz can trot in to score. Rowdy Telez does it again. An RB I single two nothing pirates through that right where he wanted to, calls inside fastball, put it on the inside corner. Telez just rips it fairly close. Oh, so they got him. Bethencourt fires to first pick them off. They're not going to challenge this. What a play by Christian Bethancourt to get to Les at first. Paul Skeens returns for the bottom of the third inning and now he's got a two nothing lead. Cody Bellinger leads it off line drive the other way and a gorgeous piece of two strike hitting from Cody Bellinger. What else is New Battery Sotus? That will be a quicker out two pitches, at least they'll get Bellinger in. That's a great move by I takes over at first on the force. Very smart play took speed off and now the Cubs have men at 1st and 2nd with two away after the Swanson walk, second time in his career that he's walked four in a game now, two on for Pete Crow Armstrong who struck out swinging against Skeens last inning swing and a miss struck him out on that changeup. Armstrong hurtling to first. He's thrown out narrowly. You got to really hurry. He's lightning that ends the inning one hit to left for the Cubs. They've left on eight through the first three innings strike outs for schemes abs for 212 swing and a Miss he struck him out two outs. Five K's, that's his pitch. The changeup struck three on a swing and a miss his sixth strikeout tonight. 1st 123 innings for the Pirates lead as we go to the bottom of the fifth inning. Paul Skeens returns missing say Suzuki drive to left back, reynolds makes the catch against the Ivy. I mean, you could be under that basket, you could be in a position to catch the ball and the ball could still go in the basket. I mean, that literally is so close. There's a pop up reynolds coming in this time and a second out on one pitch. That's big right there, an overpowering performance by Skeens here tonight. He's cut the Cubs off the scoreboard. He left eight men on base in the first three innings out in front of parades. Zero and two down to his last hitter lined to center field and Cruz being tested but Cruz has no trouble at all and Paul Skeins goes five, grind him out , shut out innings. Now nick Gonzalez faces Tyson Miller Gonzalez one for two on the night, swinging the liner over second and to right, a base hit for nick Gonzalez, his second hit this evening and the Pirates first hit since the third all singles tonight to a board. Now nobody out now he does square and he gets it down beautifully done. The veteran Yasmani Grandal that put 2nd and 3rd with one out for Triolo Pirates trying to add to their two nothing lead here in the seventh drive to left by Jared Triolo and a line drive no for big 33 run dinger five nothing but goes number seven for Triolo and it was left middle of the plate thigh high. And that Bowser blast really has changed the tenor of this game. Five nothing. The Pirates lead here in the seventh two away half advances to second base. The Cubs need a big swing of the bat might need a long ball or two to get back into this ball game. Ends up getting the strikeouts stranded at second after seven, Pittsburgh up five to 02 away here in the night one more to get for David Bednar. Not a save situation, but this would be such a nice bounce back. Taman pinch hits and a fly ball to left Reynolds coming in and raises the Jolly Roger at Wrigley, the combined shutout and it ends with Bednar and they win the first two games of this series.