Pirates Offense Fails Great Pitching vs. Cubs

PITTSBURGH — The Pittsburgh Pirates lost their most recent series against the Chicago Cubs last weekend at Wrigley Field, with their poor hitting the main culprit for their defeats.

The Pirates scored just seven runs over the four games, which comes even more frustrating as their pitching allowed just nine runs to one of the best hitting teams in baseball.

The Cubs rank amongst the best batting teams in the MLB, second in doubles, RBIs and runs, tied for second in triples, third in at-bats, fourth in hits, slugging percentage and OPS, fifth in home runs, batting average and tied for seventh in walks.

Pittsburgh held Chicago to a .189/.230/.291 during those four games, with an OPS of .521, 24 hits in 127 at-bats, four doubles, three home runs, nine RBIs and 30 strikeouts to seven walks with a 2.04 ERA.

Starting pitchers in southpaw Andrew Heaney plus right-handers in Paul Skenes, Mike Burrows and Mitch Keller each had strong outings. Heaney and Keller earned quality starts, while Skenes and Burrows each allowed one run in 5.0 inning and 5.1 innings pitched, respectively.

The Pirates bullpen came through as well, allowing just two earned runs over 13 innings for a 1.38 ERA, keeping the team in games, despite the poor offense.

Right-handed pitchers in Braxton Ashcraft, Isaac Mattson and Dennis Santana each had great performances. Mattson has retired the last 30 battters, the longest streak in the MLB, Ashcraft got six batters with ease in two innings and Santana came through in tough moments in two games.

The Pirates offense rewarded this great pitching performance with an embarrassing showing from the plate.

They batted .152/.225/.200 for an OPS of .425, with 19 hits in 125 at-bats, three doubles, one home run, seven RBIs and 11 walks to 29 strikeouts.

Pirates hitters vs. Cubs

Four Games:
Oneil Cruz: .133/.235/.133 .369 OPS. 2 H, 15 AB. 2 BB. 17 PA. 1 RBI, 1 SB
Isiah Kiner-Falefa: .077/.071/077, .148 OPS. 1 H, 13 AB, 15 PA, 1 SH, 1 SF, 1 RBI, 3 SO
Bryan Reynolds: .063/.063/.125 .188 OPS, 1 H, 1 2B, 16 ABs. 4 SOs

Three games:
Henry Davis: .143/.333/.286, .619 OPS 1 H, 1 2B, 7 ABs, 2 BBs, 2 SOs
Adam Frazier: .167/.167/.167 .333 OPS. 2 H, 12 ABs, 1 RBI, 1 SB, 1 CS, 2 SOs 
Nick Gonzales: .273/.333/.273 .606 OPS. 3 H, 11 ABs, 1 BB
Ke’Bryan Hayes: .167/.167/.167 .333 OPS, 2 H, 12 AB, 3 SO, 1 SB
Spencer Horwitz: .364/.417/.455, .871 OPS, 4 H, 1 2B, 11 AB, 12 PA, 1 RBI, 1 BB, 4 SO
Andrew McCutchen: .250/.250/.500 .750 OPS. 3 H, 12 AB, 1 HR, 1 RBI, 3 SOs
Jared Triolo: 000/.333/.000, .333 OPS, 4 AB, 6 PA, 1 RBI, 2 BB

Two Games: 
Tommy Pham: .000/.286/.000, .286 OPS, 0 H, 5 AB, 7 PA, 2 BB, 2 SO, 1 CS
Brett Sullivan: .000/.200/.000 .200 OPS. 0 H, 4 ABs, 5 PA, 1 HBP, 2 SO. 

One Game:
Alexander Canario. 0 H, 3 AB, 4 PA, 1 RBI, 1 BB, 1 SO

The three Pirates who started all four games hit below .150, with just four hits in 44 at-bats, .090 batting average.

Oneil Cruz cut down his strikeouts, but still hit just .133 and Isiah Kiner-Falefa, who has hit well at the bottom of the order, hit just .077 over the weekend.

Bryan Reynolds hit just .063, as he has struggled this month of June, batting just .160. This contrasts with his normal June performances. batting .330 in June 2024, .333 in June 2022 and .376 in June 2021.

Only three Pirates hitters went .250 or over, including Andrew McCutchen, who hit his 18th home run at Wrigley Field, the most for an active player, Nick Gonzales at .273 and Spencer Horwitz who led the way with .364 hitting.

The Pirates have struggled hitting all season as a team. They hold the worst slugging percentage, tied with the Chicago White Sox for the worst OPS, third worst batting average, tied for the fifth worst on-base percentage, as well as the least runs, RBIs and doubles, second least home runs, sixth least hits, and the fifth most strikeouts.

Pittsburgh currently sits 15.5 games back of the Cubs in first place of the National League Central Division, 11.5 games out of a wild card spot and the third worst record in the MLB at 29-44.