Cubs attempt to slow down Pirates slugger Jack Suwinski


Jack Suwinski Has Shown Impressive Power During His Young Major League Career pittsburgh pirates

The 24-year-old Chicago native has been particularly tough against his hometown cub

Looking to continue his latest home-run surge on Wednesday night, Suwinski will look to help the National League Central-leading Pirates Bounce back from losing the series opener to the hosts cub

Suwinski hit two solo homers among some highlights for Pittsburgh during an ugly 11-3 loss at Chicago on Tuesday. Pirates fell to 2-4 after a six-game winning streak

Suwinski, who attended the high school eight miles west of Wrigley Field, has a team-leading 15 home runs after recording his fifth career multi-homer contest on Tuesday. In 162 career major league games, Suwinski has gone deep 34 times, and has four homers in his last four games.

“For everybody out there, they see really big home runs. For us in the clubhouse, we see a lot of work behind the scenes, and it’s impressive,” teammate Connor Joe said of Suwinski to the Pittsburgh Post- told the Gazette, who has a .924 OPS despite batting . 253 with 66 strikeouts this season.

“Zack is diligent about his work. … Glad to have him. It’s nice to see him succeed and help the team.”

Suwinski has five home runs in 12 career games against Chicago, including the one scheduled for Wednesday cub Starter, Drew Smiley (5-4, 3.27 ERA)

The left-hander has lost his last three starts while pitching to a 5.51 ERA during that stretch. However, his teammates scored a total of six in those competitions.

Smiley has also given up seven hits in each of the last three contests, most recently during a 3–1 road loss against the Los Angeles Angels, going three to six innings and giving up three runs, two earned.

He is 2-3 with a 4.60 ERA in nine career appearances (eight starts) versus Pittsburgh. Brian Reynolds and Andrew McCutchen have scored twice against Smiley during their careers. Meanwhile, mate Pirates Carlos Santana and K’Brian Hayes are a combined 9-for-30 (.300) with four doubles against them.

With Pittsburgh’s rotation depleted by injuries, Osvaldo Bedo is set to make his major league debut on Wednesday. The 27-year-old right-hander went 3-4 with a 4.55 ERA in 10 starts for Triple-A Indianapolis this season.

They will face the Chicago club who have won three out of four after losing four in a row. However, it is uncertain whether he will compete against Pittsburgh native Ian Happ, who clubbed his first homer since May 5, a three-run drive, and had four RBIs on Tuesday.

Hap is a careerist. 317 hitters with 15 home runs and 47 RBI in 83 games against PiratesBut he was pulled out in the eighth inning on Tuesday due to calf stiffness

“We’ll see what the doctors say,” Chicago manager David Ross said of Happ. “(His calf) is a little tight. We’ll see how he feels (Wednesday).”

Bedo will likely tackle Chicago outfielder Mike Tauchman, who had two hits Tuesday and is batting .387 in 10 home games since debuting with the club on May 19.

– Field Level Media