Jared Triolo belted a three-run homer and rookie Paul Skenes tossed five scoreless innings to fuel the visiting Pittsburgh Pirates to a 5-0 victory over the Chicago Cubs on Tuesday.
Pittsburgh’s Rowdy Tellez had an RBI single and Andrew McCutchen added a sacrifice fly. Nick Gonzalez contributed two of the eight hits for the Pirates (65-73), who recorded their third win in the past four games.
Skenes (9-2) scattered four hits and four walks while striking out six before exiting after 100 pitches. He improved to 2-0 with a 2.25 ERA in four starts against the Cubs this season.
Colin Holderman retired the side in order in the sixth inning in his first appearance since returning from the injured list. Carmen Mlodzinski struck out two batters over two scoreless innings to bridge the gap to David Bednar, who retired the side in order in the ninth in a non-save situation.
The Cubs (71-68) mustered just five hits and struck out 10 times en route to dropping their second in a row on the heels of a season-high six-game winning streak.
Pittsburgh scratched for a pair of runs to open the scoring in the third inning.
Isiah Kiner-Falefa singled off Kyle Hendricks, advanced to second on a single by Bryan Reynolds and to third on a fielder’s choice by Oneil Cruz. McCutchen’s sacrifice fly to center field brought home Kiner-Falefa.
Tellez followed with an RBI single to right field that scored Cruz to give the Pirates a 2-0 lead.
Triolo gave Pittsburgh some breathing room in the seventh inning after depositing an 0-1 sweeper from Tyson Miller over the wall in left field. The homer was Triolo’s seventh of the season and first since Aug. 19.
Reynolds made a leaping catch at the ivy in left-center field to rob Seiya Suzuki’s bid for extra bases to lead off the fifth inning.
Hendricks (3-11) saw his winless streak extend to five starts. He permitted two runs on five hits in five innings, with five strikeouts and one walk.
–Field Level Media
