Buc Notes-3 straight Ls, Shota super, good minor news

PITTSBURGH (93.7 The Fan) –Paul Skenes had struck out nine, including five of six in his start Saturday night, then everything went horribly wrong from a Pirates perspective in a 11-0 Cubs win in front of a sellout crowd at PNC Park.

It started falling apart in a scoreless fifth inning, after getting a pop-out to the catcher, Skenes gave up four straight hits, the Cubs grabbed a 3-0 lead and then decimated the bullpen for a third straight Pirates loss.

Skenes would get pulled after a one-out walk in the sixth, giving up five runs, six hits, two walks, a hit batter and 11 strikeouts. The righty drops to 9-9 throwing 105 pitches-67 strikes. Reliever Isaac Mattson came on to allow two of Skenes inherited runners to score on RBI hits from Dansby Swanson and Miguel Amaya.

Shota school

Cubs lefty Shota Imanaga has been historically dominant against the Pirates in his career. After another scoreless outing Saturday (6 innings, 4 hits, walk, 4 strikeouts), these are the numbers for Imanaga against the Pirates in his career

6 starts, 3-0, 38 innings, 17 hits, 1 runs, 8 walks, 36 strikeouts, an 0.23 ERA

Rehab/minors results

• 1B Spencer Horwitz homered in his second game working back at Class A Bradenton
• AAA OF Jhostynxon Garcia hit a 3-run home run, hitting over .350 in July
• AAA RHP Noah Murdock threw 2 scoreless innings, the 6’7” reliever hasn’t allowed a run since June 26 and only scored on one time since June 13
• AAA 22-year-old RHP Antwone Kelly threw 5 hitless innings with 2 walks
• Also with Bradenton, right-hand reliever Chris Devenski gave up a hit, a walk and struck out a batter in a scoreless inning of relief.

Scoreboard watching

“Everybody knows what’s going on and what’s at stake,” said Pirates manager Don Kelly. “We have to focus on today, and I know that’s so cliched, we need to find a way to be prepared for today and if we’re consistently watching the scoreboard and playing like that, it’s not the best way to go about it.”

Kelly said they are shooting for scoreboard watching to be a thing in late September, but even then, they just need to focus on the day at hand.

That being said, Kelly admits to checking out other MLB results after the game.

Why Kelly never traded

Acknowledging the trade deadline can be a tough time for players, Kelly also discussed never being traded himself as a player.

“Been through a lot personally in my career and (Hall of Fame manager Jim) Leyland always told me they didn’t get the bat thrown in with the balls, so I never got traded.”

But seriously folks.

“There’s always an uneasiness about it, regardless of if it’s acquiring players, because then guys know there’s going to have to be moves. You’re dealing with human beings that have families and uneasiness that that creates. So there’s always conversations to have in trying to be up front and transparent with guys as much as we can in regards to what’s going on and I know Ben (Cherington) and the front office are focused on trying to help us be the best team we can possibly be.”

Up Next

Final game of the series with Pirates first-round pick Jameson Taillon (2-5, 5.38 ERA) starting for the Cubs and Pirates second-round pick Braxton Ashcraft (9-4, 3.95 ERA) starting for the Bucs. Dan Zangrilli starts the North Shore Tavern Leadoff Show at noon, then the Pirates Insider Show with Jason Mackey & GM Ben Cherington at 12:35p and first pitch at 1:35p on 93.7 The Fan.