Little to show for in loss at Classic
WILLIAMSPORT, Pa. — Sunday was a beautiful day for the Pirates to celebrate their love of baseball at the site of the Little League World Series. Players and staff had fun watching the Little League games and hanging out with the young athletes.
It was a joyous day for the Pirates until their game against the Chicago Cubs started in the MLB Little League Classic.
Mitch Keller allowed six runs on seven hits with two walks and two home runs in a 7- 1 loss against the Cubs in front 2,503 at Historic Bowman Field.
“The secondary stuff was inconsistent and he got behind in the count too many times,” Pirates manager Clint Hurdle. “He tried to sequence and tried to be unpredictable it just didn’t work the way we wanted it to.”
Nicholas Castellanos put the Cubs on the board with a solo home run with one out in the first inning. Keller struck out Jason Heyward to start the frame and rang up Kris Bryant for the second out.
Anthony Rizzo grounded out to end the first. Javier Baez struck out to start the second and Keller retired the Cubs in order.
Heyward got a little payback on Keller with a deep home run to left field in the third. Kyle Schwarber drove in Baez and Rizzo with a single to left to put the Cubs up, 4- 0.
“I didn’t give my team a chance to win,” Keller said. “It was a combination of everything. I gave up too many hitters’ counts and I didn’t execute my pitches.
Heyward led off the fifth with a double off Keller. Bryant brought Heyward home with a one- out double that gave the Cubs a 5- 0 advantage. Chris Stratton replaced Keller and proceeded to give up a towering home run to Rizzo.
The ball banged off the scoreboard in left- center field and gave the Cubs a 7- 0 lead.
The Pirates again struggled to score runs as they went 0 for 9 with runners in scoring position and are 0 for 21 over the
past three games.
“We hit two balls hard but didn’t get hits,” Hurdle said. “We have to find ways to finish. We had two innings where didn’t move runners from second base. We have to do better. Results matter in this league.”
Cubs starter Jose Quintana kept the Pirates off balance through seven scoreless innings. Quintana posted seven strikeouts and didn’t walk any batters. The few Pirates baserunners were scattered as hitters couldn’t figure out Quintana.
“The finish to the pitches was strong for him,” Hurdle said. “It was the best I’ve seen him. He was throwing the curveball for strikes and then for chase. It was really good for him which was unfortunate for us.”
Starling Marte homered in the ninth to avoid the shutout. Melky Cabrera struck out with the bases loaded to end the game.
The Pirates called up Montana DuRapau from Class AAA Indianapolis before the game. DuRapau recorded two strikeouts in the ninth inning. Cole Tucker was 26th man for the Pirates and likely will go back to Indianapolis Monday. Tucker got hit by a pitch in the ninth.