Jack Suwinski’s late homer lifts Pirates past Cubs

Jack Suwinski played the hero in his hometown on Friday as his ninth-inning home run lifted the visiting Pittsburgh Pirates to a 3-2 victory over the Chicago Cubs.
The Pirates center fielder, who entered the day batting .118, took a 1-1 delivery with one out from Daniel Palencia (1-3) the other way into the left-center bleachers.
Dennis Santana (4-4) pitched one-hit ball over 1-1/3 innings of relief to get the win. Batterymate Henry Davis also helped as the catcher threw out Ian Happ trying to steal second in the eight and Pete Crow-Armstrong in the ninth.
The caught stealing spoiled a 3-for-3 performance for Crow-Armstrong, who also scored a run and drove in another. Crow-Armstrong had second base stolen safely in the ninth but was tagged out when he slid past the bag.
Two teams struggling recently at the plate saw those woes continue Friday as the teams managed six hits each in the daytime series opener.
Rookie Braxton Ashcraft went a career-high five innings for the Pirates and allowed a run on three hits while striking out four.
Cubs starter Colin Rea, meanwhile, also only allowed a run on three hits over five, with the journeyman striking out five and walking a pair.
Two-out hitting played a role in both teams’ first runs. Andrew McCutchen’s fourth-inning double gave the Pirates the initial lead with Nick Gonzales scoring. However, the Cubs squared it up in their half of the inning when a Crow-Armstrong single brought home Seiya Suzuki.
Jared Triolo, another sub-.200 hitter for the Pirates, went 2-for-4 and scored a run in the seventh inning after Isiah Kiner-Falefa’s double.
Kiner-Falefa’s extra-base hit to the gap in left-center landed on the warning track just beyond the grasp of Crow-Armstrong, who appeared to stumble just before he lunged.
The Cubs, though, got that run right back after the seventh-inning stretch. Crow-Armstrong led off the frame getting hit by a pitch from Evan Sisk. Nico Horner and Dansby Swanson singled to load the bases with none out, and Matt Shaw tied the game on a sacrifice fly to center.
Isaac Mattson, though, escaped the jam and kept the game tied by inducing a pair of infield popouts.