Bryan Reynolds and Andrew McCutchen both hit home runs during the Pirates’ four-run eighth inning, leading Pittsburgh to a 5-3 win over the Chicago Cubs on Monday night.
Chicago had just returned home after finishing an 8-1 road trip with six straight wins. They were looking to boost their chances for the third NL wild card against Pittsburgh but lost their 3-0 lead in the first game of a three-game series.
The Pirates started the eighth inning with three consecutive hits off Jorge López (2-3). Pinch-hitter Isiah Kiner-Falefa got on base with a bloop single, and Nick Gonzales had an infield hit before Reynolds hit his 22nd home run, tying the game at 3 with a shot to the left-center bleachers.
After Oneil Cruz struck out, McCutchen hit his 18th home run to left-center and extended his hitting streak to 14 games.
“They continued to battle, they played hard,” Pittsburgh manager Derek Shelton said. “IKF has a ball fall in, Nick beats out an infield hit and then, you know, Bryan does what Bryan does, and then Cutch right behind him.”
McCutchen, now a 37-year-old designated hitter in his second time with the Pirates, hit López’s 1-1 inside sinker.
“Bullpen comes in, one little bloop, blast and you’re back in the game,” McCutchen said. “That’s why no one has answers to reasons why things happen in this game.”
Jalen Beeks (7-4) recorded two outs for Pittsburgh, and Dennis Santana threw a perfect ninth inning for his third save.
Gonzales added an insurance run with a single in the ninth, helping the Pirates win for only the second time in seven games and get revenge for a three-game sweep by the Cubs in Pittsburgh last week.
Dansby Swanson hit a home run for Chicago, and Ian Happ had two RBIs with a triple. However, the Cubs fell 3.5 games behind the idle Atlanta Braves for the final NL wild-card spot.
Chicago failed to make the most of Jameson Taillon’s excellent performance, as he pitched seven innings and allowed only three hits.
“Jamo, he pitched a wonderful game,” Cubs manager Craig Counsell said. “He did a really good job of executing in today to both right-handed and left-handed hitters. That got the ball on the ground a lot, a lot of jam shots and we made some nice defensive plays.”
Taillon threw 89 pitches, with 61 strikes, but Counsell mentioned that choosing López for the eighth inning was “an easy decision.”
“He made a couple of good pitches to the first two hitters and they found some holes and then he left some fastballs just in the big part of the plate,” Counsell said.
Pirates rookie Jared Jones allowed three runs and six hits in 6 1/3 innings during his second start after being out for nearly two months with a right lat strain.
Dansby Swanson hit his 13th home run, and his third in seven games, following a four-hit game at Washington on Sunday.
With two runners on base, Ian Happ hit a triple down the right-field line with two outs in the fifth inning to make the score 3-0.
The inning was extended by rookie Pete Crow-Armstrong’s speed on the bases.
Crow-Armstrong was on first and Swanson at second when Miguel Amaya hit a grounder to shortstop. Swanson briefly blocked Pittsburgh’s Alika Williams on the play, allowing Crow-Armstrong to reach second base just before Williams’ throw to second baseman Gonzales, which prevented a double play that would have ended the inning.
