The regular season may be on the verge of ending, but there is still beef cooking between division rivals.
After the Chicago Cubs took game one on Tuesday, the Pittsburgh Pirates battled back to win 13-7 and 8-6 and secure a series victory in the process. While speaking to the media postgame Thursday, Cubs manager David Ross expressed disappointment in his team for coming up short against a sub-.500 squad as he tries to lead Chicago back to the postseason, per ESPN's Jesse Rogers.
"That’s not a good team that just took two out of three from us – or not our caliber of team, I believe," Ross said. "We have to turn it around. It's on me. It's on the guys in the room."
Pirates outfielder Bryan Reynolds heard Ross' comments and fired back Friday, as relayed by the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette's Jason Mackey.
"We can use it as motivation," Reynolds said. "If we’re such a bad team, maybe he should have managed his team a little better and beat us."
Reynolds went 1-for-11 in the three-game series, but he is still batting .269 with a .798 OPS on the season. The former All-Star is averaging 24 home runs, 77 RBI, eight stolen bases and a 3.7 WAR over the last three years.
The Pirates, sitting at 72-81, technically have not been eliminated from postseason contention as of Friday. Pittsburgh is 7.5 games back of the third and final NL Wild Card spot with nine games remaining on the schedule, though, so their season is effectively over.
The Cubs, on the other hand, currently hold that last NL Wild Card spot. The Miami Marlins are only 0.5 games back, though, and the Cincinnati Reds are just 0.5 games behind them.
A series loss to Pittsburgh didn't help Chicago's postseason chances, and it appears that Reynolds and the Pirates were happy to deal a tough blow to the Cubs' playoff hopes.
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