Mike Tauchman and Dansby Swanson each had three hits in addition to combining for three RBIs during the Chicago Cubs’ six-run sixth inning that erased a four-run deficit and propelled them to a 10-6 win over the visiting Pittsburgh Pirates on Wednesday night.
Chicago managed one run and stranded six runners through four innings against Pittsburgh starter Osvaldo Bido, who was making his major league debut. Reliever Roansy Contreras (3-6) retired the side in order in the fifth, but he fell apart in the sixth with Pittsburgh ahead 5-1.
Relegated to the bullpen after posting a 6.13 ERA in 11 starts, Contreras issued a bases-loaded walk via a pitch-clock violation, then gave up Tauchman’s two-run single to make it 5-4.
Three batters later, Ian Happ delivered an opposite-field single to left off Yohan Ramirez that scored two for a 6-5 Cubs lead. Swanson’s second hit of the inning plated a run to cap Chicago’s rally.
Drew Smyly allowed five runs and nine hits, including three homers, but made it through six innings for Chicago, which got an eighth-inning, two-run double from Seiya Suzuki to win for the fourth time in five games. Chicago has totaled 21 runs to win the first two games of this three-game set.
Meanwhile, Carlos Santana clubbed a two-run homer and finished with four RBIs, while Andrew McCutchen and Austin Hedges also went deep for the Pirates, who have dropped five of their last seven. Bryan Reynolds added three hits.
Smyly (6-4) hadn’t allowed more than one homer in any of his previous 13 starts this season, but the Pirates tagged him for two in the first. McCutchen led off with a drive into the center field bleachers. Then two batters after a Reynolds single, Santana also found those same bleachers.
Chicago got a run back in the bottom of the frame on Swanson’s RBI single. It was the third hit of the inning against Bido, who didn’t yield another until the fourth, and finished with six strikeouts and three walks.
The Pirates added a run in the third on Santana’s RBI bloop single, then tacked on another thanks to Hedges’ first homer of 2023 in the fourth.
–Field Level Media
