CHICAGO – Bryan Reynolds and Andrew McCutchen hit home runs in the eighth inning in which Pittsburgh scored four runs, and the Pirates cooled off the Chicago Cubs with a 5-3 victory Monday night.
Chicago returned home after completing an 8-1 road trip with six straight wins. It had hoped to continue its push for the third NL wild card against Pittsburgh, but blew a 3-0 lead in the opener of a three-game series.
The Pirates began the eighth inning with three straight hits against Jorge López (2-3). Pinch-hitter Isiah Kiner-Falefa reached first base with a bloop single and Nick Gonzales had an infield hit before Reynolds hit his 22nd home run and tied the score at 3-3 with a drive into the left-center field bleachers.
After Oneil Cruz retired with a swing, McCutchen hit his 18th home run into left center field. McCutchen also extended his hitting streak to 14 games.
“They kept fighting and playing hard,” Pittsburgh manager Derek Shelton said. “IKF drops a ball, Nick hits an infield hit and then, you know, Bryan does what Bryan does and then Cutch is right behind him.”
McCutchen, now a 37-year-old designated hitter in his second tenure with the Pirates, converted López’s 1-1 inside sinker.
“The bullpen comes in, a little pop, a bang and you’re back in the game,” McCutchen said. “That’s why nobody has an answer as to why things happen in this game.”
Jalen Beeks (7-4) got two outs for Pittsburgh and Dennis Santana threw a 1-2-3 ninth for his third save.
Gonzales scored another run in the ninth inning and the Pirates won for only the second time in seven games, avenging the Cubs’ three-game sweep of Pittsburgh last week.
Dansby Swanson hit a home run for Chicago and Ian Happ hit a triple to score two runs. But the Cubs were 3 1/2 games behind Atlanta, who were sidelined, to claim the last NL wild card.
Chicago wasted a great start for Jameson Taillon, who had three hits in seven innings.
“Jamo, he pitched a wonderful game,” Cubs manager Craig Counsell said. “He did a really good job today against both right- and left-handed hitters. He put the ball on the ground a lot, a lot of jam shots and we made some nice defensive plays.”
Taillon threw 89 pitches, including 61 strikes, but Counsell said it was “an easy decision” to use López for the eighth inning.
“He made some good throws to the first two batters and they found some gaps and then he dropped some fastballs right in the big part of the plate,” Counsell said.
Pirates rookie Jared Jones allowed three runs and six hits in 6 1/3 innings in his second start after missing nearly two months with a strained right latissimus dorsi.
Swanson’s 13th home run and his third in seven games followed the two-time Gold Glove shortstop’s four-hit game on Sunday in Washington.
With two runners on board, Happ hit a triple down the right field line with two outs in the fifth inning to increase the lead to 3-0.
The inning was extended by the speed of rookie Pete Crow-Armstrong on the bases.
He was on first base and Swanson was on second when Miguel Amaya hit a bouncer to shortstop. Swanson briefly blocked Pittsburgh’s Alika Williams on that play, and Crow-Armstrong reached second base just before Williams threw the ball to second baseman Gonzales, preventing an inning-ending double play.
Next
Pirates rookie Paul Skenes (8-2, 2.23 ERA) will face Cubs RHP Kyle Hendricks (3-10, 6.75 ERA) on Tuesday night. Justin Steele was scheduled to start for Chicago, but the left-hander was pulled due to elbow soreness.
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