O’Hearn hits a grand slam on his 33rd birthday to lead Pirates
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PITTSBURGH (AP) -- Ryan O’Hearn hit a grand slam on his 33rd birthday, and the Pittsburgh Pirates held off the Chicago Cubs 8-7 on Sunday to avoid being swept in the three-game series.
The Cubs nearly erased a six-run deficit. Seiya Suzuki hit a two-run home run with one out in the ninth inning to make it a one-run game, but Mason Montgomery held on for his second save.
O’Hearn’s blast to center field in the third inning extended the Pirates’ lead to 7-1. That came an inning after a pair of rookies homered, with Esmerlyn Valdez hitting a leadoff shot and Shawn Ross hitting a two-run blast for his first career home run.
It was the fourth career grand slam for O’Hearn and second this season. His 17 home runs match the nine-year veteran’s career high.
Valdez has 14 home runs in just 37 games. Ross, a catcher, was making his first career start after being called up from Triple-A Indianapolis on Friday.
All three home runs came off Jameson Taillon (2-6), who has given up 25 longballs in just 76 innings this season. Taillon lasted four innings, was charged with seven runs on six hits and is winless in his last nine starts.
Braxton Ashcraft (10-4) pitched six innings and allowed four runs on seven hits and two walks while striking out five.
Brandon Lowe had three of the Pirates’ 11 hits while Valdez and Nick Gonzales had two each. The Cubs got two hits apiece from Michael Busch, Nico Hoerner, rookie Pedro Ramirez and Dansby Swanson.
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Cubs: Open a four-game series in St. Louis on Monday night with LHP David Peterson (5-7, 5.97 ERA) starting.
Pirates: RHP Mitch Keller (6-7, 4.90) pitches against Diamondbacks RHP Merrill Kelly (8-8, 5.12) on Monday night in the opener of a three-game home series.
SATURDAY
PCA powers Cubs to rout of the Pirates
PITTSBURGH (AP) -- Pete Crow-Armstrong was 4 for 5 with a home run and three RBIs to lead the Chicago Cubs to an 11-0 rout of the Pittsburgh Pirates on Saturday night.
Shota Imanaga (7-8) held Pittsburgh to four hits in six innings, striking out four and walking one.
Pittsburgh’s Paul Skenes (9-9), who had allowed five runs in 18 1/3 innings to win his previous three starts, struck out 11 in 5 1/3 innings but gave up five earned runs on six hits and two walks.
Crow-Armstong, who was a triple short of the cycle, had an extra-base hit in three straight innings, capped by a two-run homer over the wall in right off Ron Marinaccio to give Chicago a 10-run lead in the seventh inning. It was his 23rd of the season.
He also had a single in the first and an RBI double in the fifth off Skenes, and a double off Isaac Mattson in the sixth.
The Cubs struck out nine times against Skenes through the first four innings before solving him for three runs in the fifth. Crow-Armstrong sent a 2-2 changeup to the center field wall, driving in Dansby Swanson. Then, with the infield in and two runners in scoring position, Seiya Suzuki dropped a single into right field over first baseman Ryan O’Hearn.
Chicago scored five more in the sixth, chasing Skenes with one out after Nico Hoerner singled and Pedro Ramírez walked. Swanson lined an RBI double to left and Miguel Amaya drove in two more with a single. Michael Busch also hit a two-run single.
Jake Mangum was the only Pirates batter to reach second base against Imanaga, sending a sharp single past the glove of third baseman Alex Bregman for the first Pittsburgh hit with two outs in the third and taking second on a throwing error by Swanson.