Homers rescue defense, Glasnow
then hitting a solo shot off closer Tony Watson in the ninth. The other four homers belonged to the Pirates, a club with only five in their first 10 games this season. Francisco Cervelli, Starling Marte, Josh Harrison and McCutchen homered.
For Glasnow, the start was a marked improvement from his season debut Monday, when he recorded only five outs and allowed five runs on five walks and four hits. At Wrigley Field Saturday, he fell behind, 4-0, in the first yet went five innings on a career-high 99 pitches.
Glasnow went into “dowhatever-is-necessary mode,” he said.
It worked. He gave up six hits, walked two and struck out a career-high seven. He employed an effective changeup and had better control. His first three-ball count was in the third, and both walks were in the fifth.
“A lot of work to be done,” manager Clint Hurdle said, “but, man, it was a good day for him.”
In the first, the Cubs hit for the cycle against Glasnow — the triple and homer were clobbered, the single and double simply wellplaced — and Adam Frazier, the backup shortstop, earned an error.
After Bryant’s home run, which had a projected distance of 451 feet, catcher Cervelli went out to the mound to calm Glasnow. Two batters in, the Cubs led by two. They would add two more after Frazier bobbled a grounder, Addison Russell tripled and Jason Heyward singled.
“After that, it came out more crisp,” Glasnow said. “The velo [velocity] went up. The stuff was better.”
“Different cat from that point on,” Hurdle said.
Glasnow’s second and fourth innings were identical, and perfect. In both frames, he struck out Javier Baez on curves, struck out Kyle Schwarber with offspeed stuff and got Bryant to ground out. Sandwiched in between, the third inning was messy. Anthony Rizzo doubled. Ben Zobrist reached on a strikeoutpassed ball. Russell struck again, doubling in two runs for a 6-2 lead.
If Glasnow’s start was something to build on, the offense offered something to believe in. The Pirates slowly sliced the deficit. Cubs right-hander Jake Arrieta surrendered three runs in 5⅔ innings. In his past four starts against the Pirates, Arrieta has allowed 22 earned runs in 23 innings.
“We didn’t do a lot against Arrieta,” Hurdle said, “but we did enough.”
The Pirates then pounced on the Cubs bullpen. Harrison homered off left-hander Brian Duensing, and Alen Hanson, a late substitute for injured Gregory Polanco, singled and stole second.
Frazier, who tripled and scored earlier in the game, drove in Hanson with a single.
Marte drew a rare walk against right-handed reliever Pedro Strop, and McCutchen stepped in. He fell behind 0-2, took two sliders for balls and slammed the next one to left. He watched it fly.
“This is a sweet win,” Hurdle said. “I’ll keep this one in my pocket for a while.”