PITTSBURGH PIRATES NOTES:
THE PIRATES: Have lost two straight and three of their last four games…Will look to avoid being swept for the third time this season (were swept in back-to-back series from 5/2-7 at Tampa Bay and vs. Toronto)…Have had four separate winning streaks of at least four games this season, including a season-high seven-game winning streak from 4/17-23…Returned to first place following Friday’s win for the second time this month…Have a 1.0 game lead over the Brewers for first place in the National League Central coming into today.
ABOUT TONIGHT’S STARTER: Johan Oviedo gets the start tonight in the finale of this three-game series…Oviedo allowed two runs in 6.1 innings while losing a 5-1 decision in his last start against the Mets Saturday at PNC Park…Oviedo has recorded a 2.62 ERA (34.1ip/10er) in his last six starts beginning with his outing on May 12 at Baltimore…That’s the seventh-best ERA in the National League (13th-best in MLB) in that time.
ROSTER MOVE: The Pittsburgh Pirates today placed right-handed pitcher Colin Holderman on the 15-day injured list with right wrist inflammation…Right-handed pitcher Yerry De Los Santos has been recalled from Triple-A Indianapolis.
22 FOR 22: Andrew McCutchen hit the 22nd leadoff home run of his career last night, including the second of this season (also May 26 at Seattle)…McCutchen is now tied with Adam Frazier and Al Martin for the second-most leadoff home runs in Pirates history with ten…Barry Bonds is the all-time leader with twenty.
YOUNG HAYES: Ke’Bryan Hayes has hit safely in three straight and in 10 of his last 11 games, going 20-for-45 (.444) with three doubles, a triple, two homers, nine RBI and 1.133 OPS…Since his average was at .216 following an 0-for-4 game on May 30 at San Francisco, Hayes ranks second in all of MLB with a .407 average (22-for-54) behind Cleveland’s Josh Naylor (.458).
SWITCHING THINGS UP: Carlos Santana knocked in four runs Wednesday night while going deep for the second time in five games (it was his most RBI in a game since collecting five RBI against the Angels last year on September 19)…Santana ranks first among active switch hitters, and 12th all-time, with 283 career home runs (Bobby Bonilla and Bernie Williams are tied for the 10th-most career bombs among switch hitters with 287).
REYNOLDS ON A ROLL: Bryan Reynolds comes into today with a seven-game hitting streak and 12-game on-base streak…He is tied for the fifth-longest active on-base streak in MLB (Shohei Ohtani has an 18-game streak coming into today)…Since the streak began on May 31, Reynolds is hitting .295 (13-for-44) with three doubles, five RBI, .426 OBP and .790 OPS.
HELLO WISCONSIN!: The Pirates will bus to Milwaukee following tonight’s game to begin a three-game series against the Brewers tomorrow night in a nationally broadcast game on Apple TV…It’s the latest the Pirates have played the Brewers for the first time in a season (not counting the COVID-shortened 2020 campaign) since August 29, 1997.
THE OUTFIELD: Chicago native Jack Suwinski comes into today ranked third among all National League outfielders with a .919 OPS, trailing only Atlanta’s Ronald Acuna Jr. (.985) and Arizona’s Corbin Carroll (.983)…Bryan Reynolds ranks eighth among all National League outfielders with an OPS of .840.
GETTING ON: Andrew McCutchen has produced a .406 on-base percentage since May 14 when he batted leadoff for the first time this season (he has led off in 18 of those 24 games since)…Since May 14, McCutchen’s .406 OBP ranks eighth in all of MLB…McCutchen is also tied for the ninth-most walks (18) in MLB in that time.
TODAY’S STARTING PITCHER – 24 – RHP JOHAN OVIEDO
JOHAN OVIEDO: The 25-year-old righthander is making his 14th start of the season tonight…He lost 5-1 decision (6.1ip/2r) in his last start Saturday against the Mets.
vs. CHICAGO (NL): 1-2 with a 3.86 ERA (32.2ip/14er) in seven appearances (six starts)…Made three appearances (two starts) in 2022…Allowed three runs in 5.0 innings while losing a 6-1 decision in his start on 6/4 at Wrigley…He also tossed 7.0 scoreless innings while winning a 6-0 decision on 9/24 as a Pirate…Made his big league debut against the Cubs on 8/19/20 at Wrigley.
CHICAGO CUBS NOTES:
Cubs vs. Pirates
The Cubs and Pirates play 13 games spanning four series this season … following this three-game set the teams meet next week at PNC Park for a three-game series … the Cubs have won the last eight season series against Pittsburgh dating to 2015, including a 10-9 mark in 2022.
ANOTHER FINE EVENING: The Chicago Cubs tonight play the final contest of a three-game set against the Pittsburgh Pirates after taking the first two games of this series by scores of 11-3 and 10-6 … Chicago last night collected 13 hits (12 singles and one double) and seven walks while going 6-for-18 with RISP … this marks the first time Chicago has scored 10 or more runs in consecutive games in the same series since doing so in each contest of a three-game set vs. Pittsburgh Sept. 13-15, 2019 (17-8, 14-1, 16-6).
The Cubs are in the third day of a stretch in which six of nine games through June 21 are against the Pirates … this six-game homestand features three games against the Pirates then three against the Orioles before Chicago and Pittsburgh play three games at PNC Park starting June 19.
The Cubs have won seven of their last eight games against the Pirates dating to July 25 of last season.
CURRENT EVENTS: The Cubs have won four of their last five games after suffering a three-game sweep in Anaheim against the Angels last week … Chicago is one-game over .500 in its last 15 games since May 29, going 8-7.
This is the 13th contest (6-6) in a stretch that began June 2 in which the Cubs play 15 of 21 games on the road … this stretch wraps up with the team’s two London Series against against St. Louis June 24-25 … eight of the 15 games are against division rivals — six against Pittsburgh (3 at home, 3 on the road) and the two games of the London Series.
After the game on April 21, Chicago was 12-7 and 1.5 games behind the division lead … since, the club is 18-30 and enters today 4.5 games behind the division-leading Pirates, sitting at 34-32.
SERIES STUFF: Thanks to taking two of three in San Francisco to close out the previous trip, and winning the first two games of this series against the Pirates, the Cubs have won consecutive series for the first time since taking four-straight sets April 7-19 vs. Texas (2-1), vs. Seattle (2-1), at the Dodgers (2-1) and at Oakland (3-0).
The Cubs enter tonight 1-6 in games in which they have a chance to sweep a series.
THAT’S JUST GLOVELY: Dansby Swanson has gone 50-straight games at shortstop without an error dating to April 20 (169 TC) … he is the third Cub since 1901 to go at least 50-straight games without an error at shortstop: Don Kessinger in 1969 went 54-consecutive games at shortstop without an error (274 TC) and Mick Kelleher went 60-straight games at shortstop without a miscue, spanning the 1976-79 campaigns (199 TC).
Swanson’s 2.6 WAR is tied for the most among N.L. shortstops with the Giants Thairo Estrada and tied for second among National League shortstops and tied for second among all shortstops, according to FanGraphs … Tampa Bay’s Wander Franco leads all shortstops with a 3.2 mark.
I MEAN, IT HAD TO TURN AT SOME POINT: Including two bases-loaded singles and a bases-loaded walk last evening, the Cubs are 6-for-10 with a hit by pitch and a walk with the bases loaded dating to June 9 … prior to this, the team had been 0-for-10 in their previous 10 plate appearances with the bases loaded dating to May 23.
Looking further back, prior to June 9, the team had just one hit in its 22 at-bats with the bases loaded dating to the eighth inning April 29.
FAMILIAR ON THE BASEPATHS: Ian Happ has reached base safely in each of his last 33 games against the Pirates dating to April 10 of 2021 … he’s batted .344 (42-for-122) with 12 doubles, five homers, 24 RBI, 18 walks and a 1.003 OPS during the stretch.
Moreover, Happ has reached base safely in each of his last 42 starts against the Pirates dating to July 31, 2020.
STARTING STUFF: Cubs starting pitchers have posted a 3.94 ERA (156 ER/356.1 IP) this season, the second-best mark among N.L. starting rotations and sixth-best in the majors … the rotation’s 1.20 WHIP ranks sixth among major league teams.
Cubs starting pitchers rank first and second among qualified starting pitchers in the N.L. in ERA, with Marcus Stroman pacing the pack with a 2.42 ERA and Justin Steele second with a 2.65 ERA.
Chicago has recieved 30 quality starts, tied for the most in the N.L. with Pittsburgh and San Diego, and tied for sixth-most in baseball.
WHAT A RELIEF: Adbert Alzolay has posted a 1.10 ERA (2 ER/16.1 IP) in his last 13 game since May 6, walking two, striking out 13 and posting a 0.80 WHIP … Julian Merryweather since April 17 has pitched to a 1.19 ERA (3 ER/22.2 IP) with one win and allowed 17 hits and 10 walks with 34 strikeouts in 23 appearances.
Mark Leiter Jr. has averaged 13.99 strikeouts per 9.0 innings (43 SO/27.2 IP), the fourth-best mark among N.L. relievers.
Starting Pitcher – #0 RHP Marcus Stroman (7-4, 2.42)
Last Time Out
Marcus earned a win for his fifth consecutive start June 9 at San Francisco, the first time he has won five-straight starts in the same season in his career … lost his streak of not allowing an earned run in 22.0-straight innings since May 24 … was the longest streak by a Cubs starting pitcher since Cole Hamels (28 innings, May 27-June 18, 2019) … the outing marked his MLB-high 12th quality start of the season … has allowed two or fewer runs in five-straight starts since May 19, posting a 1.26 ERA (5 ER/35.2IP) during the run.
Date Opp. Result IP H R ER BB SO PC-S Left
6/9 @SF W, 3-2 6.2 6 2 2 4 5 91-56 3-1, 1 on
2023 Splits and Season Notes
W-L ERA G GS IP H R ER BB SO
Home 4-3 2.15 7 7 46.0 25 11 11 13 42
Road 3-1 2.72 7 7 39.2 33 13 12 18 31
AVG vs. LHB: .181 (29-for-160) / AVG vs. RHB: .203 (29-for-143)
Marcus is scheduled to make his team-high 15th start of the 2023 season today, his eighth at Wrigley Field … dating to Aug. 30, 2022, has allowed two runs or fewer in 17 of his last 21 starts, pitching to a 2.33 ERA (33 ER/127.2 IP), the lowest ERA in the majors during that span (min. 20 GS) … his 12 quality starts lead the major leagues this season and his 21 such outings since the All-Star break of last season are the most in the N.L. … his .181 average allowed (29-for-160) against left-handed hitters is the fourth-lowest among N.L. starters … his 1.04 WHIP and .191 average against (58-for-303) are the lowest among qualified N.L. starters, while his 2.42 ERA ranks first and his 85.2 IP ranks fourth.
Was named the N.L. Player of the Week for May 29-June 4 … allowed one run (no earned runs) on five hits in 15.0 innings with 14 strIkeouts in two starts during the week, earning a win in both outings.
May 29 vs. Tampa Bay tossed his second career complete game shutout (also Sept. 8, 2014 vs. Cubs), the Cubs first complete game since Alec Mills’ no-hitter, Sept. 13, 2020 at Milwaukee … took a no-hit bid into the seventh inning for the second time in his career (also July 24, 2014 vs. Boston).
Recorded his 1,000th career strikeout April 23 vs. Los Angeles (N.L.), retiring Freddie Freeman looking in the third inning.
Became the second Cubs starting pitcher since 1901 (also Jake Arrieta, 2016) with three outings of at least 6.0 scoreless innings in the team’s first 16 games.
Became the third Cubs starting pitcher since 1901 to allow two or fewer combined runs over his first four starts of a season (also Steve Stone, 1976; Jason Hammel, 2016).
Posted a 14.0-inning scoreless streak to begin the season, the fourth-longest by a Cubs pitcher since 1901.
Made his third career Opening Day start March 30 vs. Milwaukee (0 ER/6.0 IP), earning the win … improved to 2-0 with a 1.29 ERA (3 ER/21.0 IP) in his three career Opening Day starts.
In three Cactus League starts with the Cubs, went 2-0 with a 0.90 ERA (1 ER/10.0 IP) and 10 strikeouts.
Made two starts for Team Puerto Rico in the 2023 World Baseball Classic, posting a 3.00 ERA (3 ER/9.0 IP).
