Pirates Survive Cubs' Furious Rally, Win 8-7 on Three Early Homers
Pittsburgh built a 7-1 lead through three innings on the backs of three home runs, then spent the final six innings white-knuckling a one-run advantage. Chicago got within one in the ninth on a Seiya Suzuki two-run shot, but the Pirates held on for an 8-7 final.
The story of the night was Pittsburgh's second inning — a four-minute demolition that turned a 1-0 deficit into a commanding lead. Chicago drew first blood when a Swanson single plated Conforto to make it 1-0. Pittsburgh answered immediately: Esmerlyn Valdez went deep to left center at 405 feet to tie it, and then Shawn Ross followed with a 438-foot missile to left that scored O'Hearn and pushed the Pirates to 3-1. That Ross homer was the decisive moment of the game — win probability swung from 62% to 79% in Pittsburgh's favor on a single swing. The third inning finished the construction job: Ryan O'Hearn launched a 406-foot shot to center that cleared the bases, scoring Lowe, Reynolds, and Valdez to make it 7-1. O'Hearn finished 1-for-2 with a homer, 4 RBI, and 2 runs scored. Valdez went 2-for-3 with a homer, 2 RBI, and 2 runs. Pittsburgh had done its damage early and handed Braxton Ashcraft a six-run cushion.
The Cubs, to their credit, refused to fold. They chipped away through the middle innings — a Kelly groundout scored Hoerner in the fourth, a Ramirez single brought in Conforto, and a Crow-Armstrong triple to center scored Ramirez to make it 4-7. Valdez answered with an RBI single in the fifth to push Pittsburgh back to a four-run lead at 8-4, but Chicago kept coming. Hoerner singled home Busch in the eighth to make it 8-5, and suddenly the Pittsburgh bullpen was in a genuine fight. Hoerner finished 2-for-4 with an RBI; Ramirez also went 2-for-4 with an RBI.
The ninth inning looked like it might end in disaster for Pittsburgh. Suzuki — who had gone 0-for-4 to that point — launched a 392-foot two-run homer to left that scored Swanson and cut the deficit to 8-7. Suzuki finished 1-for-5 with 2 RBI, and the Cubs had the tying run at the plate with the game on the line. Pittsburgh's bullpen closed the door, but it appears this one aged the Pirates' coaching staff considerably. Ashcraft's line — 6.0 IP, 7 H, 4 ER, 2 BB, 5 K — looks like a quality start that nearly got swallowed by a late-game meltdown. Aaron Civale was sharp in his 2.0 innings for Chicago (1 H, 0 ER, 3 K), but the Cubs' bullpen couldn't protect a manageable deficit. Pittsburgh gets the win, but this one was far messier than the final score suggests.