After losing 3-0 in the first game of a double-header today at the Yankee Stadium, the Chicago Cubs were looking to get a quick revenge against the New York Yankees. However, just like Masahiro Tanaka did it today, Michael Pineda give the Cubs little to no chance and the offense did just enough to complete the sweep, 2-0.
Pineda only allowed four hits in six innings while keeping the Cubs’ offense scoreless. The Yankees pounded Travis Wood early and often and the lefty never got it going tonight.
Wood allowed a whooping 11 hits and two earned runs – RBI singles to Brett Gardner in the fourth and Scott Sizemore in the fifth – while struggling mightily with the location of his pitches against a strong Yankees lineup. The former All-Star only lasted 5.2 innings on the mound, didn’t walk a batter and only struck out two.
What ended up being encouraging for the Cubs was the performance of the bullpen. Hector Rondon and Zac Rosscup combined combined to pitch 2.1 innings of one-hit ball while walking one and fanning one as well. It’s not a stat-filler by any means, but it should’ve been nice for manager Rick Renteria to see his bullpen holding some innings scoreless.
There aren’t many positives to take from this double-header for the Cubs. The starting pitching wasn’t sharp, the offense couldn’t score a single run in 18 innings and the team as a whole looked completely overmatched. They will try to turn things around on Friday where they will start a series against the Cincinnati Reds at Wrigley Field.