The Cubs lost Game 1 of a 4-Game series with the Pirates last night, failing to score in the final seven innings and falling by a score of 4-3. Mark Leiter Jr. looked better in his second start of the season, going four innings while giving up two runs. The Cubs were unable to get to the Pirates bullpen, as they pitched six innings of scoreless baseball. Drew Smyly will take the mound for the Cubs tonight and former Cub Jose Quintana will toe the rubber for the Pirates.
Veteran left-hander Drew Smyly has been great in his first two starts of the season, posting a 1-0 record and has not given up a run in 9 ⅔ innings. Smyly has not been overpowering guys, striking out just five batters this season but he has also been able to hit his spots with just one walk so far.
The Pirates lineup has been exceeding expectations in 2022, ranking 15th in OPS and 10th in batting average. Daniel Vogelbach is a big reason why, hitting .316 with three homers including a big 2-run shot last night in the win. He will DH and hit cleanup.
Ke’Bryan Hayes has been another hot bat out of the gates for Pittsburgh, including six hits and three walks in three games against the Cubs. He will bat third and play third base tonight. They will look to get to Smyly early, something they were unable to do 10 days ago. Here is how the rest of the Pirates lineup looks for tonight:
Quintana will be making his third start of the 2022 season and his second against his former team. The lefty is 0-1 with a 3.86 ERA on the young season. He will face a Cubs lineup that has been good through two weeks, ranking fourth in the National League with a .747 OPS.
Nick Madrigal will leadoff for the second time this year and play second base after a night off in the series opener. Patrick Wisdom started the season very slow, going 1-for-21 in his first six games. He has turned that around and is red-hot over his last six games going 9-for-17 and recording at least one hit in each of those games. He will bat fifth and play left field in the second game of this series.
Seiya Suzuki started his MLB career with a 9-game hitting streak but has cooled off in his last three games not recording a hit. He is still seeing the ball well, drawing four walks in that span. He homered the last time he saw Quintana in a game where he went deep twice. Suzuki will bat second and play right field. Here is how the rest of the Cubs lineup looks for Game 2:
The Cubs will look to end their 3-game losing streak and get back to .500 in a rare Friday night game at the Friendly Confines. First pitch is scheduled for 7:05 PM on Marquee Sports Network.
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