 helped end the Pirates' four-game losing streak by overcoming a shaky first inning to allow one run on seven hits and four walks. He also had five strikeouts, five days after pitching seven scoreless innings against the St. Louis Cardinals to win his Pirates' debut.Musgrove slid hard into second baseman Javier Baez to break up a potential double play in the third inning. Baez was knocked off balance but did not hit the ground.No punches were thrown as both teams milled around the infield and there were no ejections.Umpire crew chief Gerry Davis instituted a video replay review to see if Musgrove interfered with Baez. However, replay officials at Major League Baseball's central office in New York informed Davis that it was not a reviewable play.The Pirates were angered Monday when Anthony Rizzo's slide upended catcher Elias Diaz at home plate, successfully breaking up a potential double play in the eighth inning of Chicago's 7-0 win.The umpiring crew and replay officials ruled Rizzo did not interfere with Diaz. However, Major League Baseball executive Joe Torre informed both clubs Tuesday that Rizzo should have been called for interference for swiping Diaz's right leg.Musgrove began the season on the disabled list with a strained right shoulder. He was acquired with three other players from the Houston Astros in an offseason trade for Gerrit Cole.He outpitched Kyle Hendricks (4-4), who surrendered two runs and seven hits in five innings while striking out one and walking one. The Cubs' three-game winning streak was snapped.Josh Harrison hit the sixth leadoff home run of his career in the bottom of the first inning and Gregory Polanco put the Pirates ahead 2-1 in the second with a sacrifice fly that scored Corey Dickerson, who led off with a triple. Polanco went 0 for 3 and is hitless in his last 21 at-bats.Albert Almora Jr. led off the game with a double and scored on Baez's single as the Cubs took a quick 1-0 lead. However, Musgrove struck out Kyle Schwarber and Addison Russell to escape a bases-loaded jam and Chicago wound up stranding 11 runners.Felipe Vazquez pitched a scoreless ninth, getting Kris Bryant to hit a game-ending groundout with two men on, for his 10th save in 13 opportunities. The left-hander blew each of his three previous chances.Pittsburgh's Colin Moran and Chicago's Jason Heyward had three hits apiece.TRAINER'S ROOMCubs: RHP Yu Darvish was found to have inflammation in his right triceps but no structural damage after undergoing an MRI. Signed to a $126-million, six-year contract in February as a free agent, Darvish last pitched May 20. . RHP Carl Edwards Jr. (right shoulder inflammation) was placed on the 10-day disabled list and RHP Cory Mazzoni was recalled from Triple-A Iowa. Edwards felt pain after pitching one scoreless inning in Tuesday night's win over the Pirates. Mazzoni got two outs in a scoreless inning.Pirates: C Francisco Cervelli returned to the lineup after missing three games with flu-like symptoms and was 0 for 4. . RHP Ivan Nova (sprained right ring finger) will miss his second straight start Sunday at St. Louis and either pitch a simulated game or make a minor league rehab start before being activated from the DL. . LHP Enny Romero (left shoulder impingement) has started throwing off the slope of the mound at extended spring training in Bradenton, Florida.UP NEXTCubs: LHP Jose Quintana (5-4, 4.78 ERA) will start against Mets RHP Seth Lugo (1-1, 2.48) in the opener of a four-game series at New York. Quintana has a 3.18 ERA in five road starts, compared to a 6.66 mark in five home starts.Pirates: RHP Trevor Williams (5-3, 3.43) will face Cardinals RHP Jack Flaherty (2-1, 2.15) in the first game of a four-game series at St. Louis. Since winning his first three starts this season, Williams is 2-3 with a 4.14 ERA in eight starts.More baseball: https://apnews.com/tag/MLBbaseball)
Cubs go for sweep of Pirates in Pittsburgh 2h ago• 2 min read A potentially volatile situation between the Pirates and the Cubs never developed Tuesday, so now their attention turns to their series finale at PNC Park on Wednesday, when Chicago will look for a sweep and Pittsburgh will try to climb out of a slump.In an 8-6 Chicago win Tuesday, Pirates catcher Elias Diaz hit a homer, as did Cubs first baseman Anthony Rizzo. Any one-upmanship that brought seemed to be the extent of carryover from Monday's controversial play, when Rizzo took out Diaz sliding into home on a force play and successfully broke up a double play.The umpires called Rizzo safe and ruled Rizzo did not do anything illegal, while the Pirates were insistent that Rizzo went out of his way to take out Diaz's legs. Major League Baseball on Tuesday backed the Pirates and said Rizzo's slide was illegal.But there was no retaliation Tuesday, only three homers in a 14-hit attack by the Cubs, who feasted on Pirates relievers."We're missing spots big-time," Pirates manager Clint Hurdle said of his bullpen.Pittsburgh (28-26) has lost four straight and nine of 11, and dropped to fourth in the National League Central, while Chicago (29-22) has won three in a row and four of five and moved into second in the division.Pittsburgh right-hander Joe Musgrove (1-0, 0.00 ERA) will face Cubs righty Kyle Hendricks (4-3, 3.16 ERA) on Wednesday.Musgrove could be a slump-buster, based on what he did Friday. In his first start of the season and with the Pirates, Musgrove pitched seven scoreless, five-hit innings, with seven strikeouts and no walks, and 50 of his 67 pitches were strikes in an 8-1 victory over St. Louis."(That is) kind of the way I wanted to come out. I've had plenty of time to get myself right and get things where they need to be," said Musgrove, who was acquired from Houston in the offseason but started the year on the disabled list because of a right shoulder strain. "This is the pitcher I wanted to show them, and I was able to do that. It's a good feeling." In his only start against the Cubs, Musgrove gave up two runs in six innings in a 2-0 loss Sept. 9, 2016, while he was with the Astros.One thing could hinder Musgrove. Coming from the American League and not being familiar with NL players, he said he relied heavily on catcher Francisco Cervelli, but Cervelli has missed the past three games because of flu symptoms. It's not known whether Cervelli will be available Wednesday or whether Diaz will catch again.Hendricks is coming off a strong start, too. And the one before that, and the one before that ... He has eight straight starts with three or fewer earned runs allowed.Most recently, Hendricks gave up just a solo homer and one other hit in seven innings Friday in a 6-2 victory over San Francisco. As good as he was leading up to that game, he thought he was even more consistent Friday."I made better pitches," Hendricks said. "In the past, I was throwing about the same, but too many bad pitches." He is 4-3 with a 3.21 ERA in 11 career starts against Pittsburgh.
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