Rain halts Pirates, Cubs

Associated Press

CHICAGO

The Pittsburgh Pirates are in the thick of the playoff race in the National League, so today is another big day for manager Clint Hurdle’s club.

Friday’s series opener against the Chicago Cubs was suspended by rain with the game tied at 3 in the seventh inning. The teams will pick up right where they left off before their regularly scheduled matchup this afternoon.

The Pirates brought a four-game losing streak to Wrigley Field and began the day third in the NL Central, 51/2 back of the streaking Cardinals and 11/2 games out in the wild-card race. Completing two games in one day provides a chance for Pittsburgh to make up ground no matter what the other NL contenders do.

The Pirates and Cubs waited through a 37-minute rain delay in the fifth, but more storms rolled through the area with Jordy Mercer at the plate in the top of the seventh. With more rain in the forecast, the game was called after a delay of 1 hour, 52 minutes.

“The field took a lot of water. It would take quite a bit of time to prep the field (and) there would be a very small window of clear weather to play,” Hurdle said. “We might not even have the potential of playing multiple innings, and there’s another larger storm that’s supposed to come and last longer.”

Josh Harrison had three hits for Pittsburgh, including two doubles, at the time of the suspension. Jose Tabata had two hits and drove in a run.

Cubs left-hander Tsuyoshi Wada left with one out in the fourth due to mild cramping in his left calf. He hit consecutive batters with pitches in the third and was charged with three runs, two earned, on three hits and one walk.

The gametime temperature was 88 degrees on a muggy afternoon, and Wada said he thought the heat bothered him.

“This was something that I experienced in Japan in the past as well, so I just felt like it just kind of came up again,” he said through a translator.

Pittsburgh right-hander Vance Worley returned after the first delay, but departed with two outs in the fifth. He allowed three runs, two earned, and five hits.