 and added five more in the second to give Brett Anderson (2-0) all the breathing room he would need. Anderson struggled at times with his command, walking six in six innings while striking out three and allowed three runs, one earned. Rookie Jose Osuna had three of Pittsburgh's seven hits and drove in a run. Kuhl lasted just 1 2/3 innings, giving up nine runs as his ERA ballooned from 2.60 to 6.63 in less than an hour. The Cubs are starting to get it going after a sluggish start, averaging 8.8 runs during their recent surge to first in the NL Central. It has helped take some of the pressure off a pitching staff that is struggling to get any sort of consistency from its starters. At cold and wet PNC Park, it didn't matter. Kuhl, who pitched well while never allowing more than two runs during his first three starts, ran into trouble quickly. He retired the first two batters he faced when everything fell apart. Anthony Rizzo and Zobrist walked and Russell brought Rizzo home with a single to right. Heyward then took a Kuhl offering and sent it into the seats in right-center field to make it 4-0. Things got no better for Kuhl or the Pirates in the second. With All-Star center fielder Starling Marte serving a drug suspension until July, the Pirates have been forced to shuffle their defense, moving Andrew McCutchen back to center field and platooning in right. The initial results have been less than promising. Four of Chicago's five hits in the second went to right, with three runs scoring when Osuna couldn't handle a fly ball by Zobrist to the wall. Even Anderson managed an RBI on a single up the middle. By the time Kuhl left the mound with two outs in the second in favor of reliever Trevor Williams, the Pirates trailed by eight and their three-game sweep of the Cubs at Wrigley Field earlier this month felt like a distant memory. Anderson didn't exactly cruise during his six innings of work - retiring Pittsburgh in order just once - but was never in any danger of losing the massive cushion. TRAINER'S ROOMChicago: Cubs pitching coach Chris Bosio is taking a leave of absence to deal with a personal matter and is expected to miss the rest of the road trip. Bullpen coach Lester Strode will fill in for Bosio, with Henry Blanco taking over for Strode in the bullpen. Pirates: Pittsburgh placed utility player Adam Frazier on the 10-day disabled list with a strained left hamstring. The Pirates called up reliever Dovydaus Neverauskas. The 24-year-old from Lithuania made his major league debut in the eighth and allowed a run on two hits in 1 2/3 innings with a strikeout. UP NEXTCubs: Kyle Hendricks (1-1, 6.19) makes his second start of the season against the Pirates on Tuesday. He gave up three runs in a 4-2 loss to Pittsburgh on April 14. Pirates: Gerrit Cole makes his 99th career start on Tuesday. Cole is 9-2 with a 3.00 ERA in 12 starts against the Cubs, including a win on April 14.---More baseball: https://apnews.com/tag/MLBbaseball)
Time: 7:05 PM EDT Venue: PNC Park, Pittsburgh, Pa., 15212 PITTSBURGH -- A week ago, the Pittsburgh Pirates cruised into Chicago and swept the Cubs in a three-game series. Now, the Cubs will get a chance for some comeuppance as they visit Pittsburgh for a three-game series. The series will have a bit of a different feel, and not just because of the change in location. Chad Kuhl will start for the Pirates against Chicago lefty Brett Anderson in the series opener Monday. Neither of those pitchers appeared in the first series between the two teams this season. Kuhl (1-1, 2.60 ERA) is in his second major league season, and he will be making his 18th career start. But he already knows all about the Cubs, a team he faced three times in 2016. He was 0-2 with a 10.45 ERA in those games, and 12 of the 40 career runs he has allowed have come against the Cubs. Even so, Kuhl and the rest of the Pirates' young starters are full of confidence this season. Kuhl held the St. Louis Cardinals to two runs in six innings in his last outing, and he hasn't given up more than two runs in any of his starts this season. The rest of the Pirates' young staff is pitching well, too. The last time through the rotation, Pittsburgh's starters gave up 10 earned runs in 29 innings for a 3.10 ERA. Kuhl said the strong starts are becoming contagious." It's awesome," Kuhl said. "It's just fun to see. ... I think we have a really good group, especially with (Ivan) Nova and Gerrit (Cole) being the veterans of the staff. It's a good group that wants to get better." While Kuhl has had a rough go against the Cubs in his short career, the opposite is true for Anderson (1-0, 4.40 ERA). The 29-year-old lefty came to the Cubs this offseason from the Los Angeles Dodgers and spent most of the early part of his career with the Oakland A's in the American League, so his experience against the Pirates is limited. Anderson has a 1-1 career record with a 3.77 ERA in three starts against the Pirates, but that doesn't tell the whole story. He dominated the Pirates in 2014, holding them to one run over 13 1/3 innings in two starts. But in his first appearance since returning from back surgery last August, the Pirates jumped on him for five runs in one inning. He has been having a rough go of it lately, as well. After cruising through his first two starts, Anderson allowed six runs on eight hits in 3 2/3 innings against Milwaukee on April 18. After that game, catcher Miguel Montero took the blame for Anderson's poor results." I didn't call a good game for him," Montero said to the Chicago Tribune. "I told him I was sorry because he had good stuff going, and the results were different. I apologized to him because I didn't do my job." The Cubs arrive in Pittsburgh after a 7-5 loss at Cincinnati on Sunday, a result that snapped Chicago's four-game winning streak. The Pirates beat the New York Yankees 4-1 on Sunday, giving Pittsburgh two wins in the three-game series.
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