Isiah Kiner-Falefa guns down Cubs' Ian Happ in the fifth inning of the Pirates' 2-1 win at Wrigley Field on Friday.
Paul Skenes worked himself into a jam in the fifth inning of the Pirates' 2-1 win over the Cubs today at Wrigley Field. However, he soon received a boost that changed the game.
After recording two outs, Skenes walked Ian Happ and offered up a 1-0 splinker over the middle of the plate to Kyle Tucker, who blistered it to the wall in left center. As Happ rounded the bases, Skenes jogged to his spot behind home plate and watched the following take place:
That was Oneil Cruz fielding the ball cleanly off the wall and throwing a perfect one-hopper to Isiah Kiner-Falefa, who delivered a strike to Henry Davis, gunning down Happ and preserving five scoreless innings for Skenes.
"That was huge, especially at that time of the game, it was great," Skenes said. "Obviously kept a run off the board for me, but keeping the shutout when we needed, that was exactly what we needed at the time."
Hearing Kiner-Falefa's explanation encapsulated just how important it was:
"I knew the grass was wet, so I knew it was going to be a tough play all around. Cruz did a good job, got a good bounce, got the low throw, a nice one-hop. I knew the grass was going to be wet, so I wanted to give Henry a chance. I knew the ball was going to bounce a little further, so just wanted to get it straight down and make it happen. But everyone did a good job all-around on that."
Up to that point, the Pirates we're locked in a 0-0 tie. Cade Horton had limited the Pirates to two hits and the offense looked stale. After that play, the Pirates tallied four hits and took advantage of two sacrifices from Kiner-Falefa to mount a late rally.
"Yeah. I wouldn't disagree with that," Skenes said when I asked if that provided the spark they needed. "We did a good job after that. Obviously, Horton did a good job up until that point in the game. Got him out, was able to get a run across, got another run across in the 10th. But, I think that was just how the game was today. You look at that play, Izzy's play, the barehanded play, it was just good defense all the way around. That was probably the story of the game today."
• Kiner-Falefa's barehanded play came in the ninth inning when he robbed Matt Shaw of an infield single:
• Carmen Mlodzinski made his first appearance out of the bullpen since being recalled from Class AAA Indianapolis on Wednesday. He worked two scoreless innings while giving up three hits and striking out one. He stranded a runner on third in the sixth by inducing a 5-4-3 double play before getting Michael Busch to fly out to left.
• David Bednar picked up his 10th save of the season by working a scoreless 10th inning in which he didn't give up a hit. He's now recorded nine straight appearances without an earned run.
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THE ASYLUM
Greg Macafee
11:52 pm - 06.13.2025CHICAGOExtra Bases: A relay that goes all right
GETTY
Isiah Kiner-Falefa guns down Cubs' Ian Happ in the fifth inning of the Pirates' 2-1 win at Wrigley Field on Friday.
Paul Skenes worked himself into a jam in the fifth inning of the Pirates' 2-1 win over the Cubs today at Wrigley Field. However, he soon received a boost that changed the game.
After recording two outs, Skenes walked Ian Happ and offered up a 1-0 splinker over the middle of the plate to Kyle Tucker, who blistered it to the wall in left center. As Happ rounded the bases, Skenes jogged to his spot behind home plate and watched the following take place:
That was Oneil Cruz fielding the ball cleanly off the wall and throwing a perfect one-hopper to Isiah Kiner-Falefa, who delivered a strike to Henry Davis, gunning down Happ and preserving five scoreless innings for Skenes.
"That was huge, especially at that time of the game, it was great," Skenes said. "Obviously kept a run off the board for me, but keeping the shutout when we needed, that was exactly what we needed at the time."
Hearing Kiner-Falefa's explanation encapsulated just how important it was:
"I knew the grass was wet, so I knew it was going to be a tough play all around. Cruz did a good job, got a good bounce, got the low throw, a nice one-hop. I knew the grass was going to be wet, so I wanted to give Henry a chance. I knew the ball was going to bounce a little further, so just wanted to get it straight down and make it happen. But everyone did a good job all-around on that."
Up to that point, the Pirates we're locked in a 0-0 tie. Cade Horton had limited the Pirates to two hits and the offense looked stale. After that play, the Pirates tallied four hits and took advantage of two sacrifices from Kiner-Falefa to mount a late rally.
"Yeah. I wouldn't disagree with that," Skenes said when I asked if that provided the spark they needed. "We did a good job after that. Obviously, Horton did a good job up until that point in the game. Got him out, was able to get a run across, got another run across in the 10th. But, I think that was just how the game was today. You look at that play, Izzy's play, the barehanded play, it was just good defense all the way around. That was probably the story of the game today."
• Kiner-Falefa's barehanded play came in the ninth inning when he robbed Matt Shaw of an infield single:
• Carmen Mlodzinski made his first appearance out of the bullpen since being recalled from Class AAA Indianapolis on Wednesday. He worked two scoreless innings while giving up three hits and striking out one. He stranded a runner on third in the sixth by inducing a 5-4-3 double play before getting Michael Busch to fly out to left.
• David Bednar picked up his 10th save of the season by working a scoreless 10th inning in which he didn't give up a hit. He's now recorded nine straight appearances without an earned run.
Want to participate in our comments?
Want an ad-free experience?
Become a member, and enjoy premium benefits! Make your voice heard on the Steelers, Penguins and Pirates, and hear right back from tens of thousands of fellow Pittsburgh sports fans worldwide! Plus, access all our premium content, including Dejan Kovacevic columns, Friday Insider, daily Live Qs with the staff, more! And yeah, that's right, no ads at all!
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