The Chicago Cubs’ bats came alive yet again on Sunday as they blew out the Pittsburgh Pirates and finished off a three-game sweep.
The Cubs scored a total of 47 runs in their three-game sweep of the Pirates, the most they’ve scored in a three-game series in well over 100 years.
Kris Bryant hit a pair of home runs and drove in four RBI’s on the day, and etched his name in the team record books as he has now hit more home runs than any other Cubs player in the first five seasons of their career.
Jonathan Lucroy hit his first home run as a member of the Cubs, and Kyle Schwarber and Ian Happ both hit home runs in the victory.
The news wasn’t all good for the Cubs, however, as Anthony Rizzo was forced to leave the game in the third inning with a sprained right ankle. X-rays were negative on the injury, but Rizzo will undergo an MRI on Monday to determine the severity of the sprain.
José Quintana didn’t make it out of the third inning, giving up five earned runs and eight hits to the Pirates. Tyler Chatwood did have a strong afternoon however, giving up one earned run in three innings of relief work.
After Bryant’s three-run home run in the first inning, the Pirates responded with five runs in the third inning to take a 5-3 lead. Bryant responded with another long ball, this one making it 5-4, and Victor Caratini hit a sacrifice fly to center to tie things up at 5-5. Tony Kemp then sliced a triple into the right field corner, giving the Cubs a 7-5 lead.
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On an appeal play, Kemp scored after an errant throw, making it an 8-5 game after just three innings.
The Cubs kept pouring it on in the closing innings, with Happ homering in the fifth, Schwarber in the seventh, and Lucroy in the eighth, and the onslaught was good enough to finish off the sweep.
The Cubs will next welcome the Cincinnati Reds to Wrigley Field for a three-game set beginning on Monday night.
