Bucs blanked by Brewers

September 3, 2016

PITTSBURGH — Given a choice, Josh Harrison is always going to choose to be aggressive. Always. So when the pickoff throw whizzed by Harrison as he stood on first base in the eighth inning with the Pittsburgh Pirates trailing by a run on Friday night, Harrison took off. When he rounded second, he caught third-base coach Rick Sofield’s eye. They both had the same idea: get to third as quickly as possible. So Harrison kept right on going. One problem. The ball got there first courtesy of a perfect strike from first baseman Hernan Perez to Jonathan Villar. And just like that, the ...

Pirates leave the Windy City being swept

September 1, 2016

CHICAGO — On most days, Kris Bryant’s three solid plays at third base would have covered the defensive highlights for the Chicago Cubs. This time, Bryant had to settle for a perfect view of Addison Russell’s sliding grab in the seventh inning. “I had a front-row seat and that was one of the best catches I’ve seen,” Bryant said. Bryant hit his 36th homer and Russell drove in two runs to help the Cubs to a 6-5 victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates on Wednesday night, completing a series sweep. But it was the defense by the left side of Chicago’s All-Star infield that ...

Hendricks dominates as Cubs shut out Pirates

August 31, 2016

CHICAGO (AP) — Kyle Hendricks began the season as the Cubs’ No. 5 starter. He’s on pace to finish it as the major league’s ERA leader and — if manager Joe Maddon has his way — potentially with an even bigger trophy. Hendricks threw seven dominant innings to lower the majors’ best ERA to 2.09 and Anthony Rizzo homered to lead the Cubs past the Pittsburgh Pirates 3-0 on Tuesday night for Chicago’s 21st victory in August. “He has to be in Cy Young contention,” Maddon said. “Put the radar gun in your back pocket and look at what he’s doing. There has to be strong ...

Unlucky 13 for Pirates

August 30, 2016

CHICAGO — Miguel Montero hit a game-ending RBI single in the 13th inning, and the Chicago Cubs rallied for a wild 8-7 victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates on Monday night. Dexter Fowler, Kris Bryant and Anthony Rizzo set the stage for Montero’s clutch swing with consecutive RBI singles ...

Pirates running hot …

August 29, 2016

MILWAUKEE — The Pittsburgh Pirates are red hot heading to Chicago. But their postseason aspirations could hinge on medical examinations off the field over the coming days. Ivan Nova threw six sharp innings before leaving early because of a hurting left hamstring and the Pirates hit three ...

Pirates rally back to defeat Brewers

August 28, 2016

MILWAUKEE — Pinch-hitter Gregory Polanco had a tiebreaking three-run double and the Pittsburgh Pirates rallied from four runs down to beat the Milwaukee Brewers 9-6 on Saturday night. Polanco doubled off reliever Blaine Boyer (1-3) with one-out in the sixth, giving the Pirates a 9-6 ...