Pirates at Cubs
Javier Baez is happy to be home. The second baseman has belted two home runs in each of his team’s first two games at Wrigley Field, and he will try to stay hot when his Chicago Cubs host the Pittsburgh Pirates on Thursday afternoon for the finale of their three-game series.
Baez is the first Cubs player with consecutive multi-homer performances since Alfonso Soriano in 2008 – also against Pittsburgh – and the first player in the majors to accomplish the feat this season. His hitting was contagious Wednesday, as every starting position player recorded at least one hit as the Cubs totaled 16 in a 13-5 victory that evened the series. The Pirates have yet to lose back-to-back games this season and will need to keep that trend going to avoid suffering their first series loss of the year. Pittsburgh has allowed a total of two runs in the games following its two losses and will look to Trevor Williams to try to stop the bleeding.
TV: 2:20 p.m. ET, MLB Network, AT&T SportsNet-Pittsburgh, NBCS Chicago
PITCHING MATCHUP: Pirates RH Trevor Williams (2-0, 1.59 ERA) vs. Cubs RH Kyle Hendricks (0-0, 4.09)
Williams has won his first two starts of the season with two wildly different pitching lines. The 25-year-old threw six hitless innings in a 1-0 win at Detroit on April 1, but he issued five walks and struggled to command the strike zone. He only walked one in his second outing but gave up two runs and 10 hits over 5 1/3 frames in a 14-3 win over Cincinnati.
Hendricks has been on the wrong end of a pair of one-run games to start the season. The 28-year-old gave up a pair of home runs last time out, allowing four runs and nine hits over five innings in a 5-4 loss at Milwaukee. Hendricks has been outstanding at home in his career, going 19-9 with a 2.48 ERA in 50 games (49 starts) at Wrigley Field.
WALK-OFFS
1. The Cubs’ bullpen has allowed fewer than two runs in 10 of 11 games.
2. Pirates 3B David Freese has hit safely in five straight contests against the Cubs and has belted 10 career home runs versus the club.
3. Chicago 3B Kris Bryant leads the team with five multi-hit performances, including three that featured at least three hits.