Cubs Survive O'Hearn's Three-Run Blast, Walk Off With 4-3 Win
Ryan O'Hearn's three-run homer in the sixth turned a two-run deficit into a one-run Pittsburgh lead — and Chicago answered in the very next inning without a single extra-base hit. The Cubs took it 4-3, winning a game they looked to be losing as recently as the eighth.
Chicago jumped on Paul Skenes early. Michael Busch sent one 415 feet to center in the first to put the Cubs up 1-0, and Pedro Ramirez added a 393-foot shot to right center in the third to make it 2-0. Skenes was working through trouble, but Pittsburgh's offense was quiet — until it wasn't. In the sixth, O'Hearn unloaded a 379-foot homer to right that scored Brandon Lowe and Bryan Reynolds ahead of him, a three-run swing that flipped the scoreboard to 3-2 Pittsburgh. The win probability swung from 76% in Chicago's favor all the way down to 44% on that single swing. That's the kind of hit that should end a game.
It didn't. Skenes finished his night with a clean 7.0 innings — 4 hits, 2 earned runs, 1 walk, 4 strikeouts — which looks like a quality start that deserved a better fate. Chicago's bullpen, meanwhile, had to hold a one-run deficit and did exactly that. Jacob Webb worked 1.1 innings without allowing a hit, and Ryan Rolison closed it out with 1.2 innings of scoreless ball. But the real story was the eighth inning, where the Cubs manufactured the tying and winning runs without the ball leaving the infield in any dramatic fashion. A walk scored Ramirez to tie it at 3, and then Nico Hoerner was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded to force in the go-ahead run. Bregman crossed the plate. Cubs 4, Pirates 3. That's how it ended.
The story of the night was Chicago's ability to grind back after O'Hearn's blast looked like it had stolen the game. Ramirez was the engine — 2-for-3 with a homer, 2 runs scored — and the Cubs' lineup kept finding ways to put runners in position even when the hits weren't coming in bunches. Clay Holmes was uneven in his 5.2 innings, allowing 5 hits and 4 walks while striking out 6, but the Cubs' bullpen covered for him when it mattered. Pittsburgh, for its part, appears to have gotten a strong outing from Skenes and a massive moment from O'Hearn — and still came away empty. That's a tough one to absorb.