CHICAGO — After the first inning or so, things went relatively smoothly for Nick Kingham. He’d allowed some traffic at the beginning of Saturday’s game against the Chicago Cubs, and two scored in the first inning. While his pitch count crept up, and the Cubs hit several deep fly balls off him, he allowed just four hits in his 6 1/3 innings.
Unfortunately for the Pirates, things went even more smoothly for left-hander Jon Lester. He gave up consecutive walks in the second and allowed one hit — Austin Meadow’s triple, which he roped down the first-base line.