• Frazier strikes out to end the top of the ninth.
• Call overturned. Gonzales ruled out at first. Double play.
• Gonzales grounds into a force. Triolo out at second. One away.
• Horwitz draws a leadoff walk and is replaced by JaredTriolo at first.
• DanielPalencia gets the ninth for Chicago.
• End of eighth inning: Busch grounds out 4-3.
• RUN: Tucker scores on a fielder's choice off the bat of Swanson. Crow-Armstrong out on a 6-5-4 putout. Tied at 1-1
• Crow-Armstrong swipes second. Two in scoring position now.
• Dennis Santana enters.
• Crow-Armstrong grounds into a forceout. Runners now on the corners with one out. Brings up Swanson, who is 0 for 3 with a strikeout.
• Suzuki sends a 2-2 cutter into left for a single. Runners on first and second with nobody out for Crow-Armstrong.
• Tucker walks on five pitches. Ferguson failed to hit the zone with any of those. Straight cutter-sinker combo.
• Here comes Caleb Ferguson.
• Cutch strikes out and Busch makes a nice diving stop at first to end the top half.
• RUN: Cruz shatters his bat on a fielder's choice back to the mound as Davis beats Keller's throw to the plate. Pirates, 1-0
• Davis smokes a ball off the ivy in left field and IKF sacrifices him over to third.
• Brad Keller enters for the Cubs.
• End of seventh inning: Happ lines out to right and we're still tied at zero.
• McGuire flies out to center.
• Shaw strikes out on a changeup in the dirt.
• Hoerner singles to start the bottom half.
• Strike 'em out, throw 'em out. Hayes strikes out on a slider and Frazier is thrown out stealing second.
• That should've been ball four. Was way outside.
• Frazier continues to get on base and he flares one into left for a single.
• Man, Skenes' last six games: 41 1/3 IP, 4 ER, 20 H, 7 BB, 44 K, 0.87 ERA, and 0.65 WHIP. One of the best stretches of his career.
• 5-3, Gonzales. Pirates still only have three hits.
• Ryan Brasier enters for the Cubs.
• End of sixth inning: Busch flies out to left on a high slider and Mlodzinski strands a key baserunner to keep this one tied at zero.
• Swanson grounds into a 5-4-3 double play but Suzuki moves to third.
• Crow-Armstrong turns on an inside fastball and singles into right. Puts runners on first and second.
• Suzuki singles past a diving IKF and into left field.
• Mlodzinski enters. Skenes' final line: 5 IP, 4 H, 0 ER, 2 BB, 5 K. He threw 95 pitches, 60 strikes.
• The Pirates waste that opportunity as Horwitz grounds out to second.
• Reynolds swings over a curveball in the dirt. Counsell is going to come get Horton who finishes at 5.2 IP, 3 H, 1 BB, 4 K. He's on the hook for Cruz. Caleb Thielbar is entering.
• Cruz gets a nice jump on Cutch's ground ball to short and advances to second.
• Cruz swipes second. That's his 25th.
• Carmen Mlodzinski is warming in the bullpen. Time to cover some innings.
• Cruz singles into left center to start the sixth.
• Cruz sprinted off the field in excitement. Skenes raised his arms behind home plate in celebration. That preserved the tie there. Huge moment.
• End of fifth inning: What a relay! Tucker smokes a ball off the ivy in left center, Cruz fields it and throws to IKF who guns down Happ at the plate.
• IKF grounds out to short. Horton is at 62 pitches.
• Davis with an ugly half-swing at a sweeper that dropped out of the zone. This offense, man.
• 5-3, Hayes.
• End of fourth inning: Hoerner grounds out to IKF. Took Skenes 14 pitches, he's at 77.
• Busch strokes a fastball at the top of the zone off the ivy in left field for a double.
• It takes Skenes four pitches to strike out Swanson. Two away.
• Crow-Armstrong grounds out back to Skenes.
• Field staff throws down some QuickDry on the mound as Skenes comes out. He seems to approve before throwing his warmup pitches.
• Frazier makes really nice contact and strokes a curveball into the right-center gap but Crow-Armstrong tracks it down.
• Gonzales draws a four-pitch walk. Nice spot for Frazier here. He's been red-hot lately.
• Horwitz then beats out an infield single that bounced off Horton's glove. Need to extend this inning a little and give Skenes a breather. He threw 34 pitches last inning.
• Cutch and Reynolds go down quickly as Cutch strikes out and Reynolds flies out to left.
• End of third inning: Skenes strands both as Suzuki pops out to second. Skenes is up to 63 pitches now.
• Tucker works a 10-pitch at-bat before flying out to right. Davis, Skenes and IKF are meeting on the mound now.
• He ends up walking Happ to put runners on first and second with just one away.
• Skenes seems to be having a little difficulty with the mound. Was talking to second base umpire Phil Cuzzi a moment ago.
• Happ just swung at a fastball and flung his bat down the first-base line.
• Shaw lines out to first.
• Cruz grounds out to short. Horton is at 35 pitches through three.
• Davis sends a first pitch fastball to center, just short of the warning track and IKF grounds out to first.
• End of second inning: Really nice adjustment from IKF on that groundball. Was coming in slightly and took a step back to adjust to the hop. Skenes is up to 28 pitches, 22 strikes.
• Skenes uses four pitches to strike out Busch. Got him on a changeup.
• Sounded like Swanson broke his bat on that sweeper as he grounded out to IKF.
• Hayes half swings at a sweeper in the dirt and that ends the top half.
• Gonzales flies out to center and Frazier grounds out to third. Two quick outs.
• End of first inning: It takes Skenes three pitches to strike out Crow-Armstrong. He pumped a high fastball past him for the punchout. That's a lot different than the 90 mph fastball he crushed for a home run in that spot last night.
THE ASYLUM
Final: Pirates 2, Cubs 1
• Who: Pirates (28-42) vs. Cubs (42-27)
• What: MLB regular season, Game 71
• When: 2:20 p.m., Eastern
• Where: Wrigley Field
• Weather: 72°, cloudy
• Pitchers: RHP Paul Skenes (4-6, 1.88 ERA) vs. RHP Cade Horton (3-1, 4.11 ERA)
• TV: SportsNet Pittsburgh, MLB Network
• Radio: Pirates Radio Network
• Streaming: SNP360, MLB.TV
• Satellite: SiriusXM 89/845/861
• Boxscore: MLB.com
• Media notes: Pirates | Cubs
► FOLLOW ALONG
• Suzuki grounds out 4-3 and that's game. Pirates 2, Cubs 1 in 10 innings
• Tucker pops out to Triolo at first. Two down.
• Happ retired 5-3. Big first out.
• David Bednar on for the 10th.
• Cruz swings at a knuckle curve that runs way inside. Turns into a 1-6-3 double play to end the top half of the 10th.
• RUN: IKF drives in Frazier with a sac fly to left. Pirates, 2-1
• Davis walks to load the bases.
• Hayes reaches on a single.
• Drew Pomeranz on the mound for the Cubs. Frazier will start the inning at second. Hayes will lead things off.
• End of ninth inning: McGuire down swinging.
• Shaw grounds out 6-3. Nice barehanded snag and throw from IKF.
• Hoerner flies out to left.
• Santana remains on the mound.
• Frazier strikes out to end the top of the ninth.
• Call overturned. Gonzales ruled out at first. Double play.
• Gonzales grounds into a force. Triolo out at second. One away.
• Horwitz draws a leadoff walk and is replaced by Jared Triolo at first.
• Daniel Palencia gets the ninth for Chicago.
• End of eighth inning: Busch grounds out 4-3.
• RUN: Tucker scores on a fielder's choice off the bat of Swanson. Crow-Armstrong out on a 6-5-4 putout. Tied at 1-1
• Crow-Armstrong swipes second. Two in scoring position now.
• Dennis Santana enters.
• Crow-Armstrong grounds into a forceout. Runners now on the corners with one out. Brings up Swanson, who is 0 for 3 with a strikeout.
• Suzuki sends a 2-2 cutter into left for a single. Runners on first and second with nobody out for Crow-Armstrong.
• Tucker walks on five pitches. Ferguson failed to hit the zone with any of those. Straight cutter-sinker combo.
• Here comes Caleb Ferguson.
• Cutch strikes out and Busch makes a nice diving stop at first to end the top half.
• RUN: Cruz shatters his bat on a fielder's choice back to the mound as Davis beats Keller's throw to the plate. Pirates, 1-0
• Davis smokes a ball off the ivy in left field and IKF sacrifices him over to third.
• Brad Keller enters for the Cubs.
• End of seventh inning: Happ lines out to right and we're still tied at zero.
• McGuire flies out to center.
• Shaw strikes out on a changeup in the dirt.
• Hoerner singles to start the bottom half.
• Strike 'em out, throw 'em out. Hayes strikes out on a slider and Frazier is thrown out stealing second.
• That should've been ball four. Was way outside.
• Frazier continues to get on base and he flares one into left for a single.
• Man, Skenes' last six games: 41 1/3 IP, 4 ER, 20 H, 7 BB, 44 K, 0.87 ERA, and 0.65 WHIP. One of the best stretches of his career.
• 5-3, Gonzales. Pirates still only have three hits.
• Ryan Brasier enters for the Cubs.
• End of sixth inning: Busch flies out to left on a high slider and Mlodzinski strands a key baserunner to keep this one tied at zero.
• Swanson grounds into a 5-4-3 double play but Suzuki moves to third.
• Crow-Armstrong turns on an inside fastball and singles into right. Puts runners on first and second.
• Suzuki singles past a diving IKF and into left field.
• Mlodzinski enters. Skenes' final line: 5 IP, 4 H, 0 ER, 2 BB, 5 K. He threw 95 pitches, 60 strikes.
• The Pirates waste that opportunity as Horwitz grounds out to second.
• Reynolds swings over a curveball in the dirt. Counsell is going to come get Horton who finishes at 5.2 IP, 3 H, 1 BB, 4 K. He's on the hook for Cruz. Caleb Thielbar is entering.
• Cruz gets a nice jump on Cutch's ground ball to short and advances to second.
• Cruz swipes second. That's his 25th.
• Carmen Mlodzinski is warming in the bullpen. Time to cover some innings.
• Cruz singles into left center to start the sixth.
• Cruz sprinted off the field in excitement. Skenes raised his arms behind home plate in celebration. That preserved the tie there. Huge moment.
• End of fifth inning: What a relay! Tucker smokes a ball off the ivy in left center, Cruz fields it and throws to IKF who guns down Happ at the plate.
• Ryan Borucki warming in the bullpen.
• Skenes walks Happ on five pitches, including four-straight balls.
• Cruz tracks down a fly ball from McGuire. Two away.
• Skenes pumps a 99 mph fastball past Shaw for his fifth strikeout.
• IKF grounds out to short. Horton is at 62 pitches.
• Davis with an ugly half-swing at a sweeper that dropped out of the zone. This offense, man.
• 5-3, Hayes.
• End of fourth inning: Hoerner grounds out to IKF. Took Skenes 14 pitches, he's at 77.
• Busch strokes a fastball at the top of the zone off the ivy in left field for a double.
• It takes Skenes four pitches to strike out Swanson. Two away.
• Crow-Armstrong grounds out back to Skenes.
• Field staff throws down some QuickDry on the mound as Skenes comes out. He seems to approve before throwing his warmup pitches.
• Frazier makes really nice contact and strokes a curveball into the right-center gap but Crow-Armstrong tracks it down.
• Gonzales draws a four-pitch walk. Nice spot for Frazier here. He's been red-hot lately.
• Horwitz then beats out an infield single that bounced off Horton's glove. Need to extend this inning a little and give Skenes a breather. He threw 34 pitches last inning.
• Cutch and Reynolds go down quickly as Cutch strikes out and Reynolds flies out to left.
• End of third inning: Skenes strands both as Suzuki pops out to second. Skenes is up to 63 pitches now.
• Tucker works a 10-pitch at-bat before flying out to right. Davis, Skenes and IKF are meeting on the mound now.
• He ends up walking Happ to put runners on first and second with just one away.
• Skenes seems to be having a little difficulty with the mound. Was talking to second base umpire Phil Cuzzi a moment ago.
• Happ just swung at a fastball and flung his bat down the first-base line.
• Shaw lines out to first.
• Cruz grounds out to short. Horton is at 35 pitches through three.
• Davis sends a first pitch fastball to center, just short of the warning track and IKF grounds out to first.
• End of second inning: Really nice adjustment from IKF on that groundball. Was coming in slightly and took a step back to adjust to the hop. Skenes is up to 28 pitches, 22 strikes.
• Skenes uses four pitches to strike out Busch. Got him on a changeup.
• Sounded like Swanson broke his bat on that sweeper as he grounded out to IKF.
• Hayes half swings at a sweeper in the dirt and that ends the top half.
• Gonzales flies out to center and Frazier grounds out to third. Two quick outs.
• End of first inning: It takes Skenes three pitches to strike out Crow-Armstrong. He pumped a high fastball past him for the punchout. That's a lot different than the 90 mph fastball he crushed for a home run in that spot last night.
• Skenes strikes out Suzuki to finish an eight-pitch at-bat. Really worked through a nice sequence there.
• Tucker pops out to left.
• Happ squares up a sinker and pulls it through the right side for a single.
• Time for Skenes.
• Horwitz thought he had ball four and tossed his bat there but it was called a strike. He then grounds out to second, stranding Reynolds at second.
• Reynolds sprays one down the left-field line for a double.
• Cruz works a 7-pitch at-bat after falling behind 0-2 and pops out to second. Cutch follows it up with a ground out to third.
• First pitch: Pirates vs. Cubs, Cade Horton to Oneil Cruz, Wrigley Field, 2:20 p.m., Eastern, 69 degrees, cloudy
• The tarp has been pulled off the field here. Good sign that this one will start on time.
• For Don Kelly’s visitors:
1. Oneil Cruz, CF
2. Andrew McCutchen, DH
3. Bryan Reynolds, RF
4. Spencer Horwitz, 1B
5. Nick Gonzales, 2B
6. Adam Frazier, LF
7. Ke'Bryan Hayes, 3B
8. Henry Davis, C
9. Isiah Kiner-Falefa, SS
• For Craig Counsell's Cubs:
1. Ian Happ, LF
2. Kyle Tucker, DH
3. Seiya Suzuki, RF
4. Pete Crow-Armstrong, CF
5. Dansby Swanson, SS
6. Michael Busch, 1B
7. Nico Hoerner, 2B
8. Matt Shaw, 3B
9. Reese McGuire, C
Want to participate in our comments?
Want an ad-free experience?
Become a member, and enjoy premium benefits!
We’d love to have you!