The Cubs on Sunday had the look of a kid on the last day of school. You know a vacation is coming and all you want to do is go through the motions so the day will end as soon as possible. With the all-star break upon us, the Cubs looked like a team eager to take a few days off.
The Pirates (47-43) offense erupted for nine runs in Sunday’s finale to take the series two games to one. Andrew McCutchen was the offensive star for the Pirates. The all-star center fielder homered and drove in five of the team’s nine runs. Pittsburgh will now enter the break with their best record since 1992.
Ramon Ortiz struggled all day for the Cubs (37-55). In his second start for Chicago, Ortiz gave up six runs on seven hits in four innings of work. The Cubs righty dropped to 0-2 on the season.
Offensively the Cubs couldn’t do anything Sunday. The team managed just four hits led by Darwin Barney who had two of them.
Pittsburgh’s Paul Maholm was part of the reason the Cubs struggled offensively. Maholm continued his domination of the Cubs going seven and two-thirds innings allowing one run on just four hits. The Pirates lefty improved to 6-9 on the season.
The Cubs now will get a few days off for the all-star break. The team will next play Thursday evening against the Florida Marlins.