ROBERT QUESENBERY
Associated Press
CHICAGO (AP) — This was another low point in a difficult season for Travis Wood.
The left-hander lasted just 1 2-3 innings in his shortest outing of the year, and the Chicago Cubs went on to a 10-4 loss to the Pittsburgh Pirates on Sunday.
“If I missed a pitch, they hit it out of the park,” Wood said. “If I executed (pitches), they hit it through the hole.”
Wood (8-12), who made the All-Star team last year, was tagged for seven runs and nine hits. He dropped to 1-7 with a 5.86 ERA in his last 15 starts.
“Wasn’t Woody’s day today, obviously,” Cubs manager Rick Renteria said. “They came out swinging.”
The Pirates scored five times in the second to open a 7-0 lead. They strung together six straight hits with two outs, highlighted by consecutive homers for Jordy Mercer and Andrew McCutchen.
“He was throwing his heater and leaving a lot of stuff over the middle of the plate,” McCutchen said of Wood. “You can’t really do that in this game. We were able to key on that.”
The Pirates swept the three-game series against the last-place Cubs to improve to 12-4 against Chicago this season, including 7-2 at Wrigley Field. Coupled with Milwaukee’s 9-1 loss to St. Louis, they moved a half-game ahead of the Brewers for the last wild card.
Pitcher Gerrit Cole hit a two-run shot in the seventh for the last of Pittsburgh’s four homers. Cole (8-5) allowed four runs, three earned, and nine hits in six-plus innings on the mound.
“It was a good weekend for us,” Pittsburgh manager Clint Hurdle said.
Mike Olt went 3 for 3 for the Cubs, and Matt Szczur had a two-run single in the seventh. Chris Coghlan had two hits and scored a run.
Eric Jokisch, who replaced Wood in the second, allowed one run and six hits in 4 1-3 innings in his major league debut.
“We had to change gears,” Renteria said. “And in a bright spot, Jokisch did a very nice job.”
The Cubs broke a 19-inning scoreless streak in fifth on Olt’s RBI single.
Pittsburgh finished with 19 hits. Neil Walker, McCutchen and Gaby Sanchez had three apiece.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Pirates: INF Josh Harrison was out of the lineup for a second straight game after aggravating a left ankle injury in the completion of a suspended game on Saturday. … The Pirates are concerned that INF Pedro Alvarez’s left foot injury is not improving as much they would have hoped. Alvarez is expected to travel with the team to Philadelphia, but the Pirates are considering sending him back to Pittsburgh for further tests.
Cubs: OF Jorge Soler got the day off after playing 14 innings on Saturday. The Cuban rookie missed a major part of the season in the minors with recurring hamstring injuries and the plan is to give him regular rest in hopes that it will help him stay healthy.
UP NEXT
Cubs: RHP Jacob Turner (5-8, 5.54 ERA) goes for his second straight win when he faces RHP Marcus Stroman (9-5, 3.83 ERA) in the first of three games at Toronto on Monday night.
Pirates: LHP Jeff Locke (6-4, 3.75 ERA), who is 4-1 in his past six starts, starts on Monday in Philadelphia. Locke is 3-0 with a 1.37 ERA in three career starts against the Phillies.
GROWING PAINS
The weekend series was particularly rough on touted Chicago rookies SS Javier Baez and OF Arismendy Alcantara. Baez went 0 for 4 with three strikeouts in the finale and was 1 for 13 with 10 strikeouts for the series, dropping his season average to .169 in 33 games. Alcantara went 1 for 5 and struck out twice as part of a 2-for-15 series. He is batting .210 since debuting in July.
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