The blue-clad fans behind PNC Park’s first-base dugout added a disorienting soundtrack to the Chicago Cubs’ 12-2 dismantling of the Pirates Monday night. Cubs hits and runs, which were frequent, elicited a mixture of quiet groans and scattered cheers.
The Cubs travel well regardless. They travel better in a year where they steamroll the rest of the league, and their sound is amplified in a stadium lacking its usual number of home fans.
Both managers started pulling starters in the sixth and seventh innings, lending the game a spring training feel. Adding to that feeling was the stakes of the game, or lack thereof: After clinching home-field advantage throughout the National League playoffs, the Cubs won their 100th game Monday night.