In Erik Bedard's last start, the Chicago Cubs exploded for a nine-run inning en route to a blowout of the Bucs. But Bedard rebounded in a big way on Monday night against the Diamondbacks by throwing seven scoreless innings and clinching a 4-0 win. The lefty allowed just two hits against the Dbacks, striking out five and walking none in a dominating performance.
And Pittsburgh needed a strong outing from Bedard because Wade Miley kept the Pirate offense from breaking through until a late-inning rally provided some insurance. The Bucs finally ended the scoreless tie and manufactured a run in the bottom of the fourth, with Andrew McCutchen getting on base and taking advantage of back-to-back errors by Arizona. McCutchen singled to center and errors credited to Chris Young and Willie Bloomquist on the play quickly put him on third. He would come home on the very next batter, Gaby Sanchez, who sent a grounder to the left side that allowed McCutchen to make a dash to the plate.
Pittsburgh would then add three runs of insurance in the bottom of the eighth to seal this one up. Back to back singles by McCutchen and Sanchez set the table for Neil Walker. Kirk Gibson made the call for Mike Zagurski and Walker placed one nicely to short, scoring McCutchen from third. Travis Snider then singled home the other new Buc Sanchez to make it 3-0. The rally was capped with a Rod Barajas sac fly, pushing the lead to four.
After the tidy series-opening win, Jeff Karstens will take the ball in the second of the four-game set on Tuesday night.
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