Pirates split doubleheader with Cubs, losing nightcap to Lester, 2-1

PITTSBURGH After a long day at PNC Park on Tuesday, nothing changed. By splitting a day-night doubleheader, the Pirates and Chicago Cubs remain separated in the standings by four games, same as they were before.

The Pirates took the first game, 5-4, in part because of some late-game baserunning smarts by Pedro Florimon. In the night game they ran into pitcher Jon Lester and lost, 2-1.

The Cubs, who will face the Pirates in the wild-card game if the standings remain as they are, got a taste of the pitcher they will most likely face when Gerrit Cole took the mound for the early game. The Pirates will see their probable opponent, Cy Young candidate Jake Arrieta, Wednesday. The teams face each other five more times in the regular season, twice in Pittsburgh and three games at Wrigley Field at the end of the month.

J.A. Happ (5-2) kept the Pirates in the second game, allowing two runs in 5 2/3 innings. He struck out eight, giving him 44 strikeouts in 41 2/3 innings in his past seven starts. During that span he has allowed 32 hits and six runs for a 1.30 ERA.

Pitching out of the stretch all night, Happ allowed four doubles and put men on base in every inning but one. He had some help on defense. Starling Marte made a sliding catch to end the first inning and Francisco Cervelli caught Javier Baez stealing in the second. Happ also helped himself, flipping the ball to the plate when Baez broke home from third on Lester’s bunt in the sixth.

But the Pirates couldn’t touch Lester (10-10), who pitched a complete game and allowed one run. They managed three singles and a walk against him through six innings. In the seventh, Aramis Ramirez and Cervelli singled. Michael Morse’s double-play grounder drove in one run.

Lester extended the inning by hitting Sean Rodriguez with a pitch and Rodriguez went to second on a wild pitch. As the crowd chanted “Les-ter,” Lester went upstairs to strike out pinch-hitter Jung Ho Kang and allowed himself a small fist pump.

The Pirates led Tuesday’s first game, required because of a rainout Aug. 3, until the seventh, thanks to RBI hits from Andrew McCutchen and Travis Snider. Cole had just finished striking out five while retiring the side in order in the fourth, fifth and sixth. His start ended abruptly in the seventh.

Miguel Montero’s one-out single bounced off a diving Pedro Alvarez’s glove and Starlin Castro’s grounder hit Cole in the leg, resulting in an infield single. Pinch-hitter Tommy La Stella doubled, cutting the lead to 4-2.

In came Joakim Soria, who proceeded to throw two wild pitches with runners on third that allowed the Cubs to tie the game at 4-4.

After Alvarez walked against Justin Grimm to begin the bottom of the eighth, Florimon pinch-ran for him. Florimon stole second, forcing a throwing error by Montero that sent Florimon to third.

Florimon said he got a read on Grimm from the bench.

“That’s the reason I go, because I know my speed and I had to be a little more aggressive on the base and make more of an impression to the other team,” Florimon said.

Starling Marte’s hard line drive at left fielder Austin Jackson was deep enough for Florimon to score and the Pirates took a 5-4 lead.

In 6 1/3 innings, Cole allowed four runs, three earned, and six hits, but he pitched better than his line indicated. He struck out eight without a walk while pitching on eight days’ rest, twice the usual time, because the Pirates pushed back his start. Cole’s 187 innings this season surpassed his previous high of 185 between the minors and majors in 2013, his rookie season.

“Obviously I felt fresh,” Cole said. “I had some good weapons today. I thought the stuff was pretty crisp.”

(c)2015 Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Visit the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette at www.post-gazette.com

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.