PITTSBURGH PIRATES NOTES:
THE PIRATES:.evened their three-game series against the Cubs with last night’s 13-7 win…Have gone 13-8 since 8/28, which is tied for the fifth-best record in MLB behind the Blue Jays (14-7), Orioles (14-8), Yankees (14-8) and Padres (14-8)…Won five straight games from 8/28 to 9/2, their third-longest winning streak of the season (the team won a season-high seven straight games from 4/17-23)…Have gone 30-27 in their last 57 games since losing each of their first five games following the All-Star break.
ONE AND DONE: Johan Oviedo has allowed one or no runs in 14 of his 30 starts this season…That’s the most by a Pirate since Trevor Williams also had 14 starts of one or no runs allowed in 2018…The last Pirate to have more starts of one or no runs allowed was Francisco Liriano, who had 15 in 2013.
ABOUT TONIGHT’S STARTER: Johan Oviedo gets the start tonight in the finale of this three-game series at Wrigley Field…The 25-year-old Oviedo has gone 3-2 with a 2.97 ERA (33.1ip/11er) in his last six starts on the road dating back to his outing on July 26 at San Diego…Since that time, that’s the fourth-lowest ERA among National League pitchers with at least 30.0 innings on the road behind Javier Assad (2.20), Zack Wheeler (2.42) and Corbin Burnes (2.72).
ROOKIE RBI: Rookies Jared Triolo, Liover Peguero and Henry Davis accounted for six of Pittsburgh’s 13 RBI in Wednesday’s win against the Cubs…Pittsburgh’s rookies have 102 RBI coming into today (the Reds lead MLB with 210)…Last year Pittsburgh’s rookies ranked third in MLB with 184 RBI behind Kansas City (289) and Arizona (211).
IN THE BIG INNING: The Pirates scored seven runs in an inning last night for the second time this season (also May 19 in the fourth inning vs. Arizona)…It was also the first time for the Bucs to score at least seven times in an inning at Wrigley Field since July 9, 2017, when the team jumped out to a 10-0 lead in the first inning in the final game before the All-Star break.
UNDER THE LIGHTS: This is the sixth and final game under the lights here at Wrigley Field this season for the Pirates…It’s the first time since the lights were installed in 1989 that all of Pittsburgh’s games at Wrigley in a single season will be played under the lights…Pittsburgh’s first night game at Wrigley Field took place on June 26, 1989, when Doug Drabek tossed a complete game in a 2-1 win against Greg Maddux.
KE’S TO THE GAME: Ke’Bryan Hayes has hit safely in 13 of his last 15 games, going 21-for-61 (.344) with five doubles, a triple and three home runs…Since the 15-game stretch began on September 3, Hayes’ .344 average ranks sixth in the National League among players with at least 60 at-bats.
BACK WHERE IT ALL BEGAN:The Pirates will depart for Cincinnati following tonight’s game for a weekend series that gets underway tomorrow night…It’s Pittsburgh’s first trip back to Great American Ball Park since the season-opening series from March 30 to April 2…The Pirates have won five of their last seven games against Cincinnati since losing two of three in the season-opening series at Great American Ball Park.
HOMETOWN HELLOS: Colin Holderman is a 2014 graduate of Bradley Bourbonnais Community High School…He attended Southern Illinois University, which is the same program that produced Pirates manager Derek Shelton…Holderman is tied for eighth in MLB, and fourth in the National League, with 27 holds (Mark Leiter Jr. is tied for the National League lead with 28)…Jack Suwinski is a 2016 graduate of Taft High School…Suwinski’s 23 home runs as a center fielder are the most in the National League and fourth-most in all of MLB at that position…Quinn Priester is a 2019 graduate of Cary-Grove High School, where he posted an 8-2 record and 1.00 ERA as a senior (the Pirates selected him 18th overall in the 2019 draft)…Ryan Borucki is a 2012 graduate of Mundelein (IL) High School…During his senior year, Borucki was rated by Perfect Game as the No. 1 prospect in the state of Illinois.
PLAY RENEGADE: David Bednar has a Major-League leading 19 saves since the All-Star break (Emmanuel Clase and Paul Sewald are the next closest with 16 apiece)…Pittsburgh’s 2023 Clemente Award nominee leads MLB with seven saves this month…Bednar also comes into today fourth in all of MLB with 36 saves, trailing only Cleveland’s Emmanuel Clase (41), Cincinnati’s Alexis Diaz (37) and San Francisco’s Camilo Doval (37).
STARTING PITCHER – 24 – RHP JOHAN OVIEDO
JOHAN OVIEDO: The 25-year-old righthander is making his 31st start tonight…He had a no-decision (5.0ip/1er) in his last start Friday against the Yankees at PNC Park.
vs. CHICAGO (NL): 1-4 with a 4.19 ERA (43.0ip/20er) in nine appearances (eight starts)…Is 0-2 in two starts in 2023…He lost a 7-2 decision at Wrigley Field on 6/15 and had a 4-0 decision on 6/20 at PNC Park….He made three appearances (two starts) in 2022…He also made his big league debut on 8/19/20 at Wrigley Field while pitching for the Cardinals
CHICAGO CUBS NOTES:
Cubs vs. Pirates
The Cubs and Pirates play 13 games spanning four series this season … Chicago swept Pittsburgh in two-straight three-game series, June 13-15 at Wrigley Field and June 19-21 at PNC Park, before winning three of four in Pittsburgh Aug. 24-27 … the Cubs have won the last eight season series against Pittsburgh dating to 2015, including a 10-9 mark in 2022.
DO YOU REMEMBER, THE 21ST NIGHT OF SEPTEMBER: The Chicago Cubs today play the rubber match against the Pirates (1-1) before starting a three-game set tomorrow when the Rockies come to town for the final home games of the regular season … Chicago is looking for its first series win since sweeping the Giants Sept. 4-6 — the Cubs have dropped their last three series vs. Arizona (1-3), at Colorado (1-2) and at Arizona (0-3) … in a 13-7 setback last night vs. Pittsburgh, Miles Mastrobuoni recorded his first career multi-extra-base hit game with two doubles and tied career-highs in hits (3) and runs scored (2). Chicago is 12-4-2 in its last 18 series dating to July 17. The Cubs posted a .641 winning percentage (50-28) in 78 games from June 9-Sept. 6, but have gone 3-9 (.250) in their last 12 games since … the team has 10 games remaining in the regular season.
NO FREE PASSES: Cubs starters have surrendered 224 walks this season, the third fewest free passes by a starting staff in the N.L. and sixth-fewest in the majors. © Kyle Hendricks, who takes the bump tonight for Chicago, has walked two or fewer batters in each of his 16 starts dating to June 29 … his 16-game stretch is the second-longest active streak among N.L. starting pitchers.
DUCKS ON THE POND: Ian Happ last night belted his third career grand slam and the second Cubs slam in as many games … the Cubs have hit grand slams in consecutive games, both at home, for just the third time since 2013, also achieving the feat May 4-5, 2019 and May 30-31, 2013 (credit: Ed Hartig). Chicago is second in the N.L. in batting average (.297) and runs scored (116), tied for second in home runs (5) and third in OBP (.343) and OPS (.817) with the bases loaded.
65-PLUS: Nico Hoerner Tuesday tallied his 65th RBI of the season, the sixth Cub to reach the mark this season joining Cody Bellinger (94), Dansby Swanson (76), Ian Happ (73), Christopher Morel (67) and Seiya Suzuki (66) … the previous time the Cubs had six players with at least 65 RBI was 2004 (Moises Alou, Michael Barrett, Derrek Lee, Corey Patterson, Aramis Ramírez and Sammy Sosa). Chicago ranks tied for second in the majors this season with six players with 65-plus RBI (Atlanta leads with seven).
A RESURGENT SEIYA: Seiya Suzuki in his last 32 games since Aug. 18 is hitting .361 (43-for-119) with a .422 on-base percentage and a .697 slugging mark … in that span, his 22 extra-base hits and 12 doubles are tied for the major league lead, his .361 average is second, his 43 hits are third, his 1.120 OPS is fourth and his 83 total bases are tied for fifth. Suzuki’s 53 extra-base hits this season are the most by a Japanese-born Cub since Kosuke Fukudome had 54 in 2009. Since the start of September, Seiya has reached base safely in 18 of 19 games, including hits in 16 of those games.
MERRYWEATHER MERRIMENT: Julian Merryweather has allowed just one run in his last 11 appearances since Aug. 20 (12.2 IP, 0.71 ERA), allowing two hits and striking out 17 batters, compared to four walks, with a 0.47 WHIP … among pitchers with at least 12.0 innings pitched in that span, his WHIP and opponent average (.054) rank first and his ERA is seventh (fourth among N.L. arms). Merryweather has held opponents scoreless in 18 of his last 22 outings since July 22 (4 ER/25.1 IP, 1.42 ERA) and not allowed multiple runs in a game since July 19.
THAT SCORES A ’10’: The Cubs Tuesday scored at least 10 runs in a game for the 23rd time this season, the most in the N.L. and second-most in the majors … it is the fourth time in franchise history (since 1901) the team has plated 10 or more runs at least 23 times in a season and the first time since 1935 (24 times) (also 1930, 28, and 1929, 34). The Cubs have scored 10-plus runs against the Pirates five times this season, marking the fifth time since 2000 the Cubs recorded at least five 10-run games against one team in a season … they also did so six times against Pittsburgh in both 2019 and 2008, five times against Cincinnati in 2004 and five times against Houston in 2000. (thanks to Ed Hartig for this information!).
FUN WITH NUMBERS: Ian Happ’s 94 free passes rank fourth in the majors and are the most by a Cub since Kris Bryant drew 95 walks in 2017 — the last Cub to reach 100 walks in a campaign is Carlos Peña, who had 101 in 2011. Cody Bellinger Tuesday collected his 92nd, 93rd and 94th RBI … those are the most by a Cub since Anthony Rizzo (94) in 2019. Julian Merryweather’s 91 strikeouts are the most for a Cubs reliever since Carl Edwards Jr. recorded 94 punchouts in 2017.
ONE FOR THE HISTORY BOOKS: Alexander Canario Tuesday made his first career major league start and recorded his first career hit (an RBI double) and his first career home run (a grand slam in the eighth inning) … per OPTA Stats, Canario is the only player in MLB history to his a grand slam and drive in five-plus runs in his first career start (since RBI became an official stat in 1920). Canario is the only Cub to hit a grand slam in his first career start since 1901. He became the fourth Cub in the last 50 seasons, and the 14th all-time, to hit a grand slam for his first career home run, according to ESPN Stats & Info – the others are Taylor Davis (2019), Kevin Tapani (1998) and Champ Summers (1975).
Starting Pitcher – #28 RHP Kyle Hendricks (6-7, 3.77)
Last Time Out
Kyle received a no-decision Sept. 16 in Arizona … has allowed seven hits in three-straight starts … has walked two or fewer in 16-straight starts since June 29 … owns a 3.38 ERA (17 ER/45.1 IP) in eight starts since Aug. 9, allowing three runs or fewer in seven of those outings.
Date Opp. Result IP H R ER BB SO PC-S Left
9/16 @ARI ND, 6-7 5.1 7 3 3 1 3 73-47 3-3, 2 on
2023 Splits and Season Notes
W-L ERA G GS IP H R ER BB SO
Home 3-4 4.41 12 12 65.1 74 36 32 11 48
Road 3-3 3.08 10 10 61.1 52 26 21 11 38
AVG vs. LHB: .230 (59-for-256) / AVG vs. RHB: .277 (67-for-242)
Kyle will make his 23rd start of the season tonight, 13th at home and third vs. Pittsburgh … has posted a 3.08 ERA (21 ER/61.1 IP) on the road, compared to a 4.41 ERA (32 ER/65.1 IP) in 12 starts at Wrigley Field this season … has walked two batters or fewer in 16-straight starts since June 29, the second-longest active streak among N.L. starting pitchers … ranks in MLB’s 97th percentile in average exit velocity allowed and walk percentage … since Aug. 9, has posted a 3.38 ERA (17 ER/45.1 IP) in eight starts, allowing three runs or fewer in seven of those outings … has held opponents to a .168 average (43-for-256) with 66 strikeouts against his changeup.
