Game Highlights: Cubs Come from Behind to Beat the Pirates and Sweep the Series! | 8/28/24

The all-star right hander Paul Skeens is going for the Pirates. He's been lights out this season 8-2 with a 2.16 ERA. A hundred and thirty strikeouts in a hundred and four innings of work, including six scoreless innings last time he pitched against Cincinnati. First start ever in center field O'Neal Cruz. Isn't that a sight right there? A different type of glove we've become accustomed to seeing from O'Neal Cruz. Michael A. Taylor looks like he provided that for him. Line drive and a base hit out into left center field. And that one's rolling. Cruz got a great arm. He'll pick it up, fire it in. But Happ's got a double. How about it, Happ? Last 17 coming into this one, six homers over that stretch in an OPS over 1,000. Michael Bush had the evening off last night. Swing and a ground ball to second base. Moves up the runner. And Williams playing over there today. Tosses to Tellez for the first down. Here is Suzuki. 276 overall, 19 home runs. Homer yesterday. 1-2 pitch. Yes. Yes, he did. Did it appeal? It got to appeal. Yes. Oh, my goodness. Absolutely. I think that Grandal didn't realize that the home plate umpire, Moscoso, had not ruled a swinging strike. So that's why it took so long to ask for an appeal. Obviously, big strikeout two away. And here's Cody Bellinger. First 13 starts for Skeens. A 190 ERA. Last 4-3-0-9. So still very good. On the ground. It gets through. Base hit. RBI single. And here comes Happ for the Cubs. Have the lead. Cody Bellinger with two outs. Pulls a base hit into right. 1-0 Cubs. Outside corner and down. Not a bad pitch at all. Just a good bit of hitting there from Bellinger. Skeens gives up a first inning run. Second time for his last nine starts. Fifth time overall in 18 starts. You cannot get a more opposite matchup than the pitchers we have here today. The only thing they have in common, they're both right handers. Kyle Hendricks going for the Cubs. 3-10 with a 6.33 ERA. He's coming off a no decision in Miami last Friday. Three runs in 4-2-3. He went with the curve again. This right at Paredes. And a good stretch by Bush. Out at first. And Reynolds. Two for seven in the series. A home run on Monday. His 20th of the season. 194 career hitter against Hendricks. Drive to right field. Deep. Back. Bellinger. Wall. Clear the deck. And a cannonball for Brian Reynolds, number 21. Ties it at one. A moonshot from Brian Reynolds right here. Kyle Hendricks takes a shot at a front door sinker. And as I mentioned, doesn't throw very hard. Brian Reynolds, all he has to do is pull his hands in. It's not 93, 94, 95. It's an 88. Line softly into left. And a base hit for Nico Horner. Two disengagements right there. Let's see how aggressive Nico Horner decides to be. Very aggressive. Strike him out. Stolen base. He is three for eight in the series. Drove in a run with a bases loaded walk last night. Drove in a run with a single on Monday night. Line drive and that's a base hit into center field. Here comes Nico. Cruz can really throw that one to the plate. And Nico is safe. And Pete Crow Armstrong is racing for third. And he is in. An RBI single and he ends up on third. And the Cubs have the lead. And the bottom of the order continues to do the job. That throw, by the way, 103.3 miles an hour. The second hardest throw this year by a defender. Now the infield is in. Tapped on the ground. And Pete Crow Armstrong comes home. Bethencourt does the job. And it is 3-1. So second and third for the Pirates. Bigger challenge with this next guy, Conor Leffa. Not a lot of swing and miss in his game. And that will do the job. IKF will get the run in. Here's Brian Reynolds who had a long home run his first time up. Reynolds, wow. What a big hit. With two outs on a 2-2 pitch, he ties the game. What a clutch hit there from Brian Reynolds. Terrific piece of hitting. That is crack to left field. A line drive that carries over the head. A hit so hard, Reynolds gets to third. Cruz coasting into second with a double. 112.7 off the bat. This ball was hammered, Brownie. Reynolds, as soon as he reacts to this ball being hit, even with two outs, he's got no chance to swarm because it was hit so hard. Tellez at the plate. Tie game at three. Pop up. Shortstop, Swanson. Oh, some miscommunication there. Scores two on what should have been the third out. Tellez will be gifted a two-run single. This ball had eyes right here. I think Paredes going straight back, backpedaling on this ball probably cost them an out. I think Swanson assumed. Yeah. What a break. If you had guessed through not even two innings yet, there would be 11 hits in eight runs combined. No. Two teams. Pirates with four straight two-out hits. First and second for McKinney, the ninth Pirate to bat in his second inning. Kind of like that. Wow. Toward the left center field gap, Billy McKinney. Ball bounces out of play, so that'll cost him an RBI, as Joe will have to come back, but he brings home one, Tellez from second. Nine to the plate, and McKinney rips one into the left center field gap. Shortest start of Kyle Hendricks' career, and now we'll see how Paul Skeens reacts to his team scoring five for him. Strike three call. Went with the slider. Back toward it, right into the strike zone. Strike three call. Got another one. Back-to-back strikeouts for Skeens. Swing and a ground ball guided toward second base. Williams up with it cleanly, and on to first. A one-two-three inning for Paul Skeens. Pirates lead it, and now Connor Joe, who has walked and singled, facing Ethan Roberts at the last out of the second inning. Drive to left field. Connor Joe crushes his ninth on the left-field wall. Get back, Loretta. Connor Joe-Joe. Second home run of the series for Connor Joe. Both to the poolside, both off of right-handed pitchers, too. Pirates trying to add to their seven-to-three lead. Runners at the corners, and now Alika Williams is coming up. Bunt, and a one-hopper to the mound. That'll score the run on a sacrifice bunt by Alika Williams. He'll get a run batted in. It is eight-to-three. Runners move up to second and third, with two gone now for Seya Suzuki. And we're continuing to think along with the Pirates here. He's got a five-run lead. He's got to go five to qualify for a W. That bullpen a bit thin. Deep third on the heels of his feet. Oh, and a pick on the other end by Tellez. Triolo on to Tellez, and Skeens keeps the Cubs off the board. So, one out, second and third for Connor Joe. He's been on base all three times today. And it is going to be an RBI hit for Connor Joe. And the ball gets past the left fielder, and O'Neal Cruz was just jogging into third, but then turns it on. Cruz was basically walking into third base. And Happ overruns it, so then Cruz motors home, and that's a big two-runs single RBI E-7. And that will pretty much make an easy decision for Shelton of the Pirates to lift Skeens. Facing Cody Bellinger to lead it off. He swings and lofts one to center. O'Neal Cruz, first fly ball today. He can catch one out. Hooray! That's pretty funny. The whole place cheered. That's the first one he's caught today, right? Yeah. His first fly ball. It's a huge cheer from the crowd. So, one out. Look, he's waving. Yeah. Who's he waving to? ...for today, making his eighth start with the Cubs. Probably around September 1st. Tomas Nito should be ready. Drilled out towards left-center field. That one is way back, and forget it. Gone. Christian Bethencourt. Way out of here. A two-run homer, and it's a 10-5 game. Career-high fourth hit of the day for Pete. Two men on, one away. Christian Bethencourt batting. We're in the eighth inning. Ground ball, fair ball down to left-field line. Bethencourt swats it in to score. PCA on his heels, and we got ourselves a 10-7 game. How about that? Christian Bethencourt's knocked in five today. The bullpen's been a problem for the Pirates at times this year, despite the fact, as we documented last night, they've got hard throwers down there. Here's a ground ball up the middle. Base hit to center. This ballgame is not over. Coming in to score on the play is Bethencourt. It's now 10-8. Happ delivers an RBI single, and the tying run will be at the plate. Instead of Wisdom, it'll be Mike Tuchman, pinch hitting here in the eighth inning. Nice play by Alika Williams, and that's a double play. That's a double play. The ball looked like it hit the dirt. Williams threw to first, and Craig Council's going to go crazy here because of what the umpire had ruled over at first base, Vic Carapazza, saying Happ was in no-man's land, and what was he supposed to do? But Happ came off the bag, and Joe tagged him. It looked, at least from our angle, Neil, that the ball hit the dirt. The bases are loaded for the Cubs here in the ninth inning. One away, they trail by two, and the batter is Dansby Swanson. Still only one out here in the ninth as the Cubs try to come all the way back from a 10-3 deficit. One hop, Williams flags it down to second, one on to first, not in time. Bellinger scores, and it's 10-9. They're going to go ahead and walk Pete Crow Armstrong and leave it up to Bethencourt. Bethencourt has knocked in a career-high five, looking for more, 10-9, two outs in the ninth. Ground ball, under the glove of the shortstop, Connor Galefa, in to score Vasquez. Swanson touches home, and the Cubs have the lead. Christian Bethencourt has knocked in seven, and the Cubs have come all the way back from a deficit, 11-10. I mean, on a three-inning rally. Continue to press, press, press. This will be known as the Bethencourt game if the Cubs pull this one off. The Cub fans who have hung around have been rewarded with a remarkable rally. Line drive, base hit out of the left center. Here comes Pete Crow Armstrong. Racing for third is Bethencourt. Half an RBI single, and it's 12-10. Tuchman, the ninth Cub to bat in the inning. Line drive out towards left center field, and that's a base hit. In to score is Bethencourt. Happ will race to third, and the hits just keep on coming. It's 13-10. This is just remarkable. A rally for the ages here by the Cubs. It's just unbelievable how they got them off the deck on a day like today. Line drive out of the center field, and a base hit. In to score is Happ. Tuchman will replace Happ at third. RBI single Suzuki, and it's 14-10, as the extra point goes through the uprights. Hodge and the Cubs one strike away from the win of the year. Swing and a miss. Struck him out. Ball game. Cubs win. The win of the... As they finish off the sweep in Pittsburgh.