CHICAGO _ When the Pirates woke up in the Westin on Michigan Avenue Monday morning, they had an opportunity. A long-shot opportunity, sure, but there it was: They trailed the Chicago Cubs by seven games. Sweep them, and they cut it to four.
Four is manageable. Four is doable, especially with the Cubs coming to PNC Park for four games next week. But you can't make up three games head-to-head without winning that first one, and the Pirates proved unable to accomplish even that.
The Cubs looked like the Cubs again this week during a three-game sweep of the Pirates, which they culminated in style with a 17-3 roasting Wednesday at Wrigley Field. A seven-game lead on the Pirates became 10. They no longer have to worry about the Pirates (63-71). They must hold off the Milwaukee Brewers, whom they lead by 3{ games, and the St. Louis Cardinals, who are six back and just traded Mike Leake.
Anthony Rizzo tormenting the Pirates is nothing new, and he kept at it for the third game in a row, with an RBI double and a homer. Ian Happ became the latest Cub to smack around Pirates pitching. Happ singled in his first at-bat, homered in his second and hit an RBI double in his third.
Whereas Ivan Nova's first half consisted of almost exclusively strong starts, his second half has been hit or miss, with more misses than hits. Wednesday was the worst yet. Nova lasted a season-low three innings and allowed five runs, four earned.
Nova took the ball for the 27th time Wednesday, one short of his career high in 2012. He remained healthy and able to take the ball every fifth day, but his effectiveness and efficiency steadily decreased in July and August.
For the second time in three games, the Pirates' defense handed the Cubs a run. But the manner in which Javier Baez advanced around the bases in the second inning Wednesday night was truly something else.
David Freese bobbled Baez's grounder. E5, Baez reached first. Baez stole second and Chris Stewart's throw flew over Josh Harrison. E2, Baez reached third. Baez crept toward the plate as Jose Quintana squared to bunt. When Quintana did not, Stewart had Baez trapped midway down the third-base line, but rather than run directly at him to initiate a rundown, he threw past Baez to third. Baez scampered home and tied the game at 2-2.
The first two Cubs runs scored on station-to-station affairs. Rizzo and Happ accelerated the process in the third.
With Kris Bryant on first, Rizzo doubled for the fourth time in three games to drive in a run. Nova had a 1-2 count on Happ and threw a decent pitch, a curveball down and in. Happ drove it into the seats in right field for his 20th home run of the season.
That became 12-2 when the Cubs sent 10 men to the plate in the fifth. After Happ's double, Jason Heyward, Baez and Quintana pitched in RBI hits. Kyle Schwarber punctuated the scoring with a first-pitch, opposite-field homer that he knew was gone off the bat.
Quintana allowed two runs in the first, then retired 14 consecutive batters before Bell's 23rd homer of the season in the sixth.
Jon Jay robbed the middle of the Pirates' lineup of extra bases on consecutive plays in the third. Andrew McCutchen lined a ball directly over Jay's head, to the warning track. Jay tracked it back and caught it as he fell to his right. The next batter, Bell, lined a ball over Jay's head to his left. He hauled that one in at the track too.
