Starters
Chicago       Johnny Schmitz
Pittsburgh   Rip Sewell
​
Pittsburgh
Ralph Kiner homered in the bottom of the First Inning to put the Pirates up 1-0.
Ed Stevens drove in a pair in the Fifth Inning to moved the Pirate lead to 4-1.
Frankie Gustine doubled in two runs in the Seventh Inning to expand the lead to 7-1.

Chicago
Peanuts Lowery singled in the Cubs first run of the season in the Fourth Inning.
Bill Nicholson and Lowery clubbed back-to-back solo home runs in the top of the Ninth.
​A wild pitch allowed a run to score as the Cubs brought home 4 runs in the top of the Ninth.

Final Score
Chicago      5
Pittsburgh  7
​
Season Record
0 Wins    1 Loss

Starters
Chicago      Dutch McCall
Pittsburgh  Tiny Bonham
​
Pittsburgh
Ralph Kiner went 0 for 2 with a walk and a strikeout.
Frankie Gustine went 1 for 3 with a single in the Fifth Inning.
​Stan Rojek went 0 for 4 with a strikeout and grounded out to Hank Schenz at second base three times.

Chicago
McCall reached on an error in the Third Inning then doubled and scored in the Fifth Inning.
Hal Jeffcoat doubled in two runs in the Fifth Inning. The Cubs swatted 4 doubles on the day.
McCall allowed 1 hit and 1 walk while striking out 4 in a complete game shutout.

Final Score
Chicago      5
Pittsburgh  0

Season Record
1 Win    1 Loss

Starters
Chicago       Russ Meyer
Pittsburgh   Elmer Riddle
​
Pittsburgh
Ralph Kiner went 1 for 4, reached on an error and drove in 2 runs.
Frankie Gustine had a 2 for 4 day, reached on an error and scored 3 times.
Ed Stevens went 2 for 4 with a double and drove in 2 runs.

Chicago
Bill Nicholson went 1 for 3 with a 3-run home run, a run a walk and a sacrifice.
Andy Pafko went 2 for 4 with run and a walk. Phil Cavaretta had a 2 for 5 day with a run, a strikeout and 2 RBI in the Ninth Inning that gave the Cubs the lead for good.

Final Score
Chicago      7
Pittsburgh  5

Season Record
​2 Wins    1 Loss

Series Thoughts (Games 1 - 3)
I was down after Game #1 when Schmitz laid an egg. I thought he gave the Cubs the only good chance from the mound in the the three games. In that game the Cubs still showed some pop with two homers and 5 runs.

I changed the lineup for Game Two and put Cavretta in left field and Lowery at shortstop to shore up the batting. Sadly it did not help the Cubs defensively. McCall pitched over his head for the shutout, but we'll take it. McCall will drop to at least #3 in the starting rotation for here on out.

Game Three was a battle of the bullpens. Both the Pirates and Cubs has relievers that were not all terrible but each team was forced to use some one less desirable man in a close game. Rojek did not perform well for Pittsburgh and left the door open for Chicago. Cavaretta came through in the clutch and brought the Cubs a stunning win.

Replacing Roy Smalley at shortstop with Lowery and adding in Cavaretta in left field for Lowery boosted the starting batting average (minus the pitcher spot) from .271 to .285.

I don't quite understand the terrible season record for the Cubs outside of terrible relief pitching and under-performing starters Schmitz and Meyer. The gauntlet of Boston, St. Louis and Brooklyn might have overwhelmed the Cubs. We will find out more about this team as the Cardinal's are headed into Wrigley...