Mike Tauchman drove in three runs with a pair of singles and Drew Smyly combined with three relievers on a five-hit shutout as the visiting Chicago Cubs spanked the Pittsburgh Pirates 8-0 on Monday.
Nico Hoerner added two RBIs and Dansby Swanson and Seiya Suzuki each added one for the Cubs, who are 8-2 in their past 10 games.
Smyly (7-4) pitched five scoreless innings. He allowed three hits, tied a career high with five walks and struck out four.
The Pirates have lost seven straight.
In his second major league start, Pittsburgh’s Osvaldo Bido (0-1) gave up three runs and five hits in six innings, with seven strikeouts and two walks. Both of Bido’s starts have come against the Cubs.
The Pirates’ Henry Davis, the No. 1 overall pick in the 2021 draft, was 1-for-3 with a double and a walk in his major league debut. He started in right field.
In the second, Cody Bellinger singled to right with one out but was erased when Christopher Morel grounded into a forceout. Yan Gomes singled to center, moving Morel to second. Miles Mastrobuoni, the No. 9 hitter in the Cubs’ lineup, drew a four-pitch walk to load the bases with two outs.
Tauchman then drove in Morel and Gomes with a base hit to center for a 2-0 Chicago lead. Hoerner brought Mastrobuoni home with a single to center to make it 3-0.
In the seventh, pinch hitter Nick Madrigal singled to center against Pirates reliever Ryan Borucki, stole second and scored on Tauchman’s base hit to left for a 4-0 Chicago lead.
An out later, Yohan Ramirez replaced Borucki and induced a groundout before intentionally walking Ian Happ, who stole second. Tauchman then scored on Swanson’s infield single to make it to 5-0.
The Cubs scored three more runs in the eighth. With one out, Gomes walked and Madrigal got hit by a pitch. Second baseman Ji Hwan Bae’s throwing error on Tauchman’s potential double-play grounder allowed Gomes to score. Madrigal came home on Hoerner’s groundout, and Suzuki’s double to left drove in Tauchman to forge the final score.
Bryan Reynolds went 1-for-2 with two walks for Pittsburgh, which has been shut out in two of its last three games.
–Field Level Media
