Friday night’s Cubs win took three hours, 33 minutes and 356 total pitches between the two teams, mostly because the nine pitchers used couldn’t throw strikes — 16 total walks.
Saturday’s 6-0 Cubs loss to the Pirates ran an hour and seven minutes and more than 100 pitches shorter (250 total pitches). The loss, the 11th time the Cubs were shut out this year, ended a four-game winning streak.
Why did this one go so quickly? The pitchers threw strikes, mostly Johan Oviedo of the Pirates, who threw seven innings and allowed just three singles and no walks, striking out seven.