PITTSBURGH _ Concern over the Pirates defense descended to calamity Monday night. The only issue with attempting to illustrate precisely how the fielders torpedoed right-hander Chad Kuhl in the Chicago Cubs' 14-3 win at PNC Park is picking which particular play was the worst of them all.
Consider the first play, in the first. After Kuhl issued back-to-back, two-out walks, Addison Russell bounced a single to right field. Jose Osuna threw home, on time and on one bounce, but catcher Francisco Cervelli couldn't corral the hop. The run-scoring error was charged to Cervelli.
The next batter, Jason Heyward, clubbed a three-run home run, his third homer in four days.
Consider the second play, in the second, when the bases were loaded. Osuna tracked Ben Zobrist's fly ball on the warning track. Osuna leaped, and the ball flopped off the side of his glove. Rather than settle for a sacrifice fly, Zobrist was standing on second base, gifted a bases-clearing double.
It seemed almost as if Cubs manager Joe Maddon, aware of the Pirates' recent shaky defense and lack of outfield depth, had suggested his hitters target right field. Of the Cubs' eight hits before Kuhl was yanked with two away in the second, none were to the left side of the diamond.
And consider the third play, in the third. The first pitch from long reliever Trevor Williams to Russell with runners at second and third whizzed to the backstop. The baseball ricocheted back to Cervelli, who caught it on the fly and scrambled back to home plate to apply the tag. As he did so, the ball popped out of his mitt and plopped on the ground _ Cervelli's second error.
At that point, down 10-1, little hope remained. The Pirates (7-9) began clearing the bench. They pulled Andrew McCutchen after three innings, David Freese and Jordy Mercer after four. A week removed from the Pirates' sweep at Wrigley Field, the Cubs (11-8) broke serve in Pittsburgh.
For Kuhl, anything but calm and collected when he returned to the dugout in the second, it marked the worst outing of his major league career. In 1 2/3 innings, Kuhl allowed eight hits and nine runs _ all earned runs, officially _ walked four and struck out only one. Kuhl entered the day with a 2.60 ERA in three starts this season, and exited with a 6.63 ERA and a scowl.
In four career starts against the Cubs, Kuhl has a 15.75 ERA.
Williams surrendered three runs, two earned, in four innings, and left-hander Antonio Bastardo allowed a run on three hits and two walks in 1 1/3 innings. Right-hander Dovydas Neverauskas, the first born-and-raised Lithuanian to debut in the majors, gave up one run in two innings.
The pitching was poor, and the defense altogether atrocious. The Pirates have committed seven errors in the past four games. Their depth in right field took a hit Monday when super-utility player Adam Frazier was placed on the 10-day disabled list because of a left hamstring strain. Rather than recall an outfielder, the Pirates promoted Neverauskas, a right-handed reliever.
Cubs left-hander Brett Anderson worked six innings, giving up six walks, five hits and three runs, one earned. The injury-prone Anderson twice was visited by an athletic trainer, but did not depart.
The Pirates offense flickered more than once, powered primarily by Osuna, who had three of their seven hits. The first run, however, occurred on Freese's RBI single in the first inning. A stream of fielder's choice and double play grounders ended rallies in the next few innings.
In the sixth, Osuna ripped an RBI triple to center field _ his second triple in the past four games _ and scored on Josh Bell's single to center. Osuna was just a home run shy of the cycle. With his last shot in the ninth, Osuna struck a ground ball to the pitcher and was thrown out.
