Pirates Steal Chicago: Lowe's Two-RBI Single Breaks It Open

Brandon Lowe singled to center in the sixth to score two runs, turning a tie game into a 4-2 Pittsburgh lead that Chicago couldn't fully erase. The Pirates held on for a 4-3 win, surviving a late Cubs push that made the final inning feel closer than it should have.

Pittsburgh drew first blood in the first when Bryan Reynolds singled to left, scoring Griffin to make it 1-0. That lead held until the fifth, when Miguel Amaya changed the entire complexion of the game. His 389-foot home run to left scored Ramirez and flipped the Cubs to a 2-1 advantage — a swing so decisive that Chicago's win probability jumped from 45% to 74% on a single swing. At that moment, it looked like Amaya had handed the Cubs control of the afternoon.

But Pittsburgh answered immediately and emphatically in the sixth. Gonzales hit a ground rule double to score Reynolds and tie it at 2. Then Lowe stepped up and singled to center, scoring both Flores Jr. and Gonzales to put the Pirates ahead 4-2. Three runs in one inning, all with two outs hanging in the air — the story of the sixth was Pittsburgh refusing to let Amaya's moment be the final word. Lowe finished 1-for-2 with 2 RBI, and Gonzales went 1-for-4 with an RBI and a run scored. Reynolds, quiet for most of the afternoon, ended up 2-for-4 with an RBI and a run.

Chicago clawed one back in the bottom of the sixth when Hoerner grounded out to second, scoring Busch to make it 4-3, but that's as close as the Cubs would get. On the mound, Matthew Boyd allowed 7 hits and 4 earned runs over 5.1 innings — a line that looks like the difference-maker when you compare it to Bubba Chandler's 5.1 innings of 3 earned runs allowed for Pittsburgh. Aaron Civale came on in relief for Chicago and threw 2.0 clean innings, giving up just 1 hit with 2 strikeouts, but the damage was already done. Carmen Mlodzinski worked 1.2 scoreless innings for Pittsburgh, allowing no hits. Amaya's 2-for-3 day with a homer and 2 RBI was the best individual performance on the field, but it wasn't enough — Pittsburgh's sixth-inning eruption proved to be the margin that mattered.