The Pittsburgh Pirates couldn’t hold onto a late lead at Wrigley Field on August 17, falling 4–3 to the Chicago Cubs in a game that swung back and forth before Dansby Swanson’s eighth-inning sacrifice fly sealed the outcome. Chicago opened the scoring in the second when Pete Crow-Armstrong came home on Ian Happ’s single to shallow center. Pittsburgh answered in the third as Isiah Kiner-Falefa doubled and scored on Spencer Horwitz’s drive to deep right-center, evening the score at 1–1.
The Cubs nudged back ahead in the fifth when Swanson ripped a double to left, plating Happ, with a fielding error by Tommy Pham allowing Swanson to take third. The Pirates fought back in the sixth — Jack Suwinski and Nick Gonzales reached ahead of Joey Bart, who laced a two-run double to deep left, flipping the score to 3–2 in Pittsburgh’s favor.
Chicago wasted no time responding. In the bottom of the sixth, Seiya Suzuki crossed the plate on Carson Kelly’s single to center, knotting the game once more. The decisive blow came in the eighth, when Kelly scored on Swanson’s sac fly to right, pushing the Cubs ahead for good. Pittsburgh’s offense produced nine hits but went just 3-for-13 with runners in scoring position, stranding 10 runners and committing two errors that proved costly in a one-run game.
On the mound, the Pirates pieced together the effort, but the bullpen couldn’t keep Chicago off the board in the late innings. The Cubs’ relief corps, meanwhile, shut the door after the sixth, with Andrew Kittredge working a clean ninth for the save.
The Pirates return home to open a series against the Toronto Blue Jays on Monday. Paul Skenes is slated to start for Pittsburgh and is matched up against Toronto’s ace Kevin Gausman. First pitch is set for 6:40 p.m. ET at PNC Park, where the Pirates will look to rebound behind their top arm.
(photo courtesy of Winnipeg Free Press)