Pittsburgh Pirates Drop Opening Game of Final Home Series of 2020

Monday night the Pittsburgh Pirates kicked off their final home series of the 2020 season with a loss against the Chicago Cubs

The 2020 season for the Pittsburgh Pirates is now in the home stretch. Monday night, the team kicked off a four-game series against the Chicago Cubs at PNC Park. This series is the final home series of the shortened 60-game season for the Pirates.

There has been plenty of losing for the Pittsburgh Pirates in 2020, and they kicked off their final home series of the season with yet another loss. Following a 5-0 loss against the Cubs on Monday night, the Pirates are now just 15-39 on the season and one step closer to clinching the worst record in baseball this season.

Brubaker Turns In Strong Final (Likely) 2020 Start

More than likely, Monday night was the final start JT Brubaker will make this season. While he could start on Sunday against the Cleveland Indians, it does not appear that will happen. If Monday night was Brubaker’s final start of the season, he went out on a high note.

Brubaker allowed 2 runs on four hits, a walk, he hit a batter, and he struck out nine in 6.2 innings of work. This set a new career-high for Brubaker in innings pitched and strikeouts. His 18 swings-and-missed and 98 pitches thrown were also career bests. This was without a doubt the best start of Brubaker’s young MLB career.

With his performance this season, Brubaker has put himself in position to crack the starting rotation for the Pittsburgh Pirates coming out of spring training 2021. Other than one disaster start against the Chicago White Sox, Brubaker was consistent throughout his first MLB season. Even if Brubaker does not start 2021 in the rotation, he has certainly proved he can be a valuable MLB pitcher.

Blake Cederlind Struggles

After lefty Austin Davis got the final out of the 7th inning and the first two outs of the 8th inning, he allowed a base hit to Anthony Rizzo. Davis was then lifted from the game for rookie Blake Cederlind. This is when things started to go south.

While Cederlind did get squeezed at times by the home plate umpire, he failed to record an out. He allowed three hits, issued a walk, allowed the runner he inherited to score, and was charged with 2 runs of his own.

The young Cederlind has unlimited potential out of the bullpen for the Pittsburgh Pirates. That said, even the most talented young relieves will take their lumps from time to time. Monday was one of those nights for Cederlind.

A Woeful Offensive Performance

The 2020 season has not been a good one for the Pirate offense. That most certainly continued in Monday night’s loss.

In the loss, the Pirates were shutout. The team collected just four hits, none of which went for extra bases, and they drew just two walks. Both walks were drawn by Gregory Polanco. The Pirates have A LOT to try and figure out offensively this offseason. 

What’s Next

The second game of this series is scheduled for 7:05 on Tuesday night at PNC Park. Steven Brault (4.04 ERA, 5.49 DRA), on the heels of his frist MLB complete game, will look to finish the season with one final strong start for the Pittsburgh Pirates. The Chicago Cubs will counter with a left-handed pitcher themselves in the form of the struggling Jose Quintana (6.00 ERA, 4.89 DRA).