Joey Bart has been one of the most consistent hitters for the Pittsburgh Pirates, batting .272 in 63 games since the team acquired him from the San Francisco Giants earlier this season. But the Pirates could be without their starting catcher when they host the Chicago Cubs for the opener of a three-game series on Monday.
Bart exited Sunday’s 4-3 win against the Cincinnati Reds with left hamstring discomfort sustained in the first inning on a run to first base as he tried to beat out a ground ball. He had been in the lineup as the designated hitter.
“Him, Bryan [Reynolds] and Oneil [Cruz] have been the catalysts when we go offensively, and he just continues to have quality at-bats,” Pirates manager Derek Shelton said of Bart.
The good news is Pittsburgh has the veteran Yasmani Grandal, who got the start behind the plate on Sunday, ready to fill in if need be. The 35-year-old came through in the clutch Sunday, belting a two-run walk-off home run in the ninth inning.
It was his third homer in his past five games, part of what has been a strong August. Grandal is hitting .297 this month. He hadn’t hit higher than .207 in any month prior this season.
“He’s very important to us and he’s been very important to us all year,” Shelton said. “I know at times he struggled offensively and he’s a little bit older, but he’s smart, he’s very smart.”
The Pirates have won four of their past six games but remain eight games back of the final wild card in the National League, with six teams ahead of them — including the Cubs. Though their playoff hopes are close to being officially extinguished, Grandal isn’t thinking about that.
“We still have September, and I’ve seen a lot of things happen in September,” he said. “… You’ve just got to keep believing.”
Mitch Keller (11-7, 3.76 ERA) will get the nod in the opener. The right-hander is 5-4 with a 4.78 ERA in 12 career appearances (11 starts) against the Cubs.
Chicago arrives in Pittsburgh looking to rebound after being handed just its third loss in the past nine games, a 7-2 setback against the Miami Marlins on Sunday. The club has been held to two runs or fewer in each of those losses; they scored 42 runs in the six wins.
“We had a bad day offensively. We didn’t do much,” manager Craig Counsell said Sunday. “We didn’t miss out on anything with hard-hit balls today. They just kind of beat us with the fastball and just didn’t have a good day with our offense at all.”
Despite the loss, the Cubs have won three straight series. Their overall success of late has kept them within striking distance of the final National League wild-card berth, sitting 5 1/2 games back of the Atlanta Braves.
“It’s a good series, it’s a road win series, but had a chance to make it a great series today, and couldn’t finish it,” Counsell said. “… But winning series is a good thing. We need to keep doing that.”
The Cubs will look to take the first step in doing so with Jameson Taillon (8-8, 3.77) on the mound against the Pirates. The right-hander is 1-2 with a 6.19 ERA in three career starts against his former team.
–Field Level Media
