CHICAGO — Edward Olivares and Nick Gonzales homered, and the Pittsburgh Pirates beat the Chicago Cubs 5-4 on Thursday night.
Olivares hit a two-run homer in the first inning. He also doubled and scored in the sixth against Justin Steele (0-1) to make it 5-3.
Gonzales hit a solo drive in the fourth and Jared Jones (3-4) struck out seven in six solid innings. Colin Holderman gave up a sacrifice fly to Christopher Morel in the eighth, but the Pirates opened the four-game series on a winning note after losing six of eight. They lost two of three games against the Cubs in Pittsburgh this weekend.
Jones was charged with three runs and seven hits. The 22-year-old right-hander has gone at least five innings and allowed three runs or fewer in each of his nine career starts. It was his fifth outing without a walk, and he never faced a three-ball count with his slider keeping the Cubs off balance.
“I go right back to the drawing board, watch the video, see what I’ve done in my previous outings where it’s been really good,” he said. “I make sure I do that every day in catch play.”
Aroldis Chapman worked the seventh. Holderman hit Seiya Suzuki in the left arm with the first pitch of the eighth and catcher Yasmani Grandal threw wildly to first after fielding Cody Bellinger’s roller, putting runners at second and third. Morel then cut it to 5-4 with a sacrifice fly before Ian Happ struck out. Michael Busch walked, but after a visit from pitching coach Oscar Marin, Holderman struck out Nick Madrigal on a ground ball to second baseman Alika Williams.
“The first throw to Seiya got away from him, and then we had the throw inside the line, but he was able to develop it,” manager Derek Shelton said. “Oscar had a really good visit with him and kind of calmed him down and then Alika with an incredible play. A shorthanded, backhanded play with runners on first and second in that environment was really important for us. It was a very beautiful piece.
David Bednar entered the game in the ninth for his ninth save in 12 opportunities.
The hungry Happ hit a solo home run for Chicago in the second after being held out in the previous two games.
Steele, coming off a shaky outing in the Cubs’ 10-9 loss at Pittsburgh on Saturday, allowed five runs and six hits in 5 2/3 innings. The left-hander struck out seven and walked one in his third start due to left hamstring strain.
“Overall, we didn’t play good enough defense tonight,” manager Craig Counsell said.
TRAINERS ROOM
Cubs: 2B Nico Hoerner (hamstring soreness) was out of the lineup for the third straight game. He followed a more normal pregame routine after doing nothing the day before, and Counsell hoped to have him back on Friday.
FOLLOWING
Prized RHP Paul Skenes (0-0, 6.75 ERA) makes his second start for Pittsburgh after a promising – and uneven – major league debut against the Cubs on Saturday. Skenes struck out seven in four-plus innings and the Pirates won 10-9. RHP Kyle Hendricks (0-3, 10.04 ERA) starts for Chicago. ——
AP MLB:
