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About an hour ago
Joe Musgrove finished his season on a high note and then made a young boy happy.
Musgrove threw three balls in six innings, the Pittsburgh Pirates defeated Chicago 9-5 on Thursday night and extended the Cubs' nine-game losing streak.
Musgrove (11-12) was charged with three points, two earned, eight in eight and three while the Pirates recorded a three-game sweep. Musgrove has won his last three outings.
After being removed for a brush stroke at the bottom of the sixth inning, Musgrove handed his crampons to the young supporter sitting in the PNC Park stand before heading to the tunnel that leads from the canoe to the clubhouse.
It was the way Musgrove organized its fan appreciation night when the season was disappointing for the Pirates. Despite the sweep, they have 24-46 points since the All-Star break, which has reduced their all-time record to 67-91 and allowed them to finish in last place in NL Central for the first time since 2010.
The number of participants was 10,529 on Thursday.
"We have not given a lot of fans to wait this season," said Musgrove. "Even if we want to complain about not having big crowds, not having a lot of action, it's about us. We did not play. With ticket prices now, I do not know if I would come to watch a team behave like us. We understand this and we are grateful to the fans who are showing up and who are faithful. "
The Cubs are at the heart of their longest losing streak since their 12th loss in 2012. Chicago will miss the playoffs for the first time since 2014 after being eliminated from the wild card race in Newfoundland on Wednesday night.
Chicago, however, can still play a role in the outcome of the Central Division standings. The Cubs finish the season with a three-game series in St. Louis, leader of their division, starting Friday night. The Cardinals have a lead of one game on Milwaukee.
Cubs manager Joe Maddon said it was difficult for his team to find the motivation to play a meaningless match in an almost empty stadium.
"It's totally different. There is no way around this, "said Maddon. "Anyone who wants to oppose this is good because you've never done it, but it's totally different. Nobody stops smoking, it's just a different atmosphere.
"You have to create your own energy, especially in this park right now, where there is no one, I'm anticipating – I hope – a little better in St. Louis, they'll have a packed house, I'm sure that our guys will have a better chance of feeding a little. "
Melky Cabrera, Jose Osuna and Pablo Reyes each had three hits for the Pirates, who finished with 16 hits. Reyes also doubled and tripled. Erik Gonzalez extended his streak of strikes to 10 games.
Jose Quintana (13-9) was scored for seven points, including five earned, on 12 hits at his last start of the year. The southpaw won his four other starts against the Pirates this season and finished the year with 23 points out of 131/3 sleeves in his last four outings.
"It was a terrible September for me," Quintana said. "I kept fighting. It's a battle these last two starts. I am disappointed in myself Tonight was a big night for me to try to win. I had a very good chance of stopping the losing streak. It's frustrating. "
The Pirates built a 7-0 lead against Quintana. Reyes scored a three-run triple in the first inning, Osuna and Jacob Stallings scored goals in three sets and Jake Elmore's Rake single was fifth. Two of the seven points scored on errors.
Musgrove dropped three points in the sixth when Ian Happ (Mount Lebanon) scored twice and scored on Victor Cartini's single, with the Cubs closing at 7-3.
The Pirates responded with two runs late in the game when Adam Frazier hit a RBI single and was coached by Cabrera, who doubled.
Tony Kemp scored twice, and Nico Hoerner scored a single in the RBI for the Cubs in the eighth end, reducing the deficit to 9-5.
Maddon said that he had not yet discussed his future with baseball operations president Theo Epstein and that he would like to speak at the series in St. Louis.
Maddon's five-year deal, worth $ 25 million, expires at the end of the season. There has been a lot of speculation that the Cubs would bring a change after the end of their playoff appearances.
At the same time, the manager of the Pirates, Clint Hurdle, said that he hoped to return to the next season. Hurdle is under contract until 2021, but the Pirates are assured of finishing last in NL Central and have had several incidents in a club since the break of the All-Star match.
The chief executive of the Pirates, Neal Huntington, said in a statement released by the team that he would not discuss staff issues with the media before the end of the season.
Pirates of Bryan Reynolds (discomfort in the right hamstrings) was not part of the training after being injured on Wednesday.
The Pirates start a three-game home series against the Red Cincinnati on Friday night with LHP's Steven Brault (4-6, 5.07) over RHP Anthony DeSclafani (9-9, 3.84). Brault is 1-5 with a 6.23 ERA in nine starts since early August.
