The Cubs and Pirates wrapped up their series at Wrigley Field with a Father’s Day matinee on Sunday. The game required bonus baseball for the second time in three days, and Chicago secured another one-run win to take the series.
Pittsburgh rallied immediately against starter Colin Rea in the top of the 1st inning with a run-scoring single by Spencer Horwitz and an RBI groundout by Alexander Canario that made it 2-0. The North Siders responded in the bottom of the frame against Mitch Keller as Seiya Suzuki brought home a run on a grounder and Dansby Swanson tied the game with a single.
That would be it for the scoring in regulation as both starting pitchers settled in very nicely and things remained deadlocked into the 9th inning. Neither side could do anything in the final frame as the game went to extra innings.
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The Pirates failed to score in the top of the 10th and the Cubs opened up the bottom half with an intentional walk to pinch-hitter Kyle Tucker, followed by a double steal that put runners on second and third with nobody out. Ian Happ stepped up to the plate one batter later and hit the game-winning single off of David Bednar for a 3-2 victory. (Box score)
Key Moment
Vidal Bruján and Tucker’s well-executed double steal eliminated the need to bunt the runners into scoring position. It was a very good call by manager Craig Counsell.
Why the Cubs Won
Another strong pitching effort combined with excellent execution in extra innings was the difference Sunday.
Stats That Matter
- Rea did great after a shaky opening inning: 6 IP, 2 R, 4 H, 4 K, 1 BB.
- Swanson had a couple of hits and might be starting to heat back up.
- Michael Busch had two hits, including a double.
Bottom Line
The Cubs are 12-6 this year in one-run games, which is a huge improvement over the last couple of seasons. Probably the biggest reason for that is a much better bullpen in 2025. Chicago is also certainly the beneficiary of a very capable manager who makes much better in-game decisions than some of his predecessors.
On Deck
The North Siders finally get a day off on Monday before welcoming the second-place Brewers on Tuesday at 7:05pm CT. Ben Brown goes up against Chad Patrick in a matchup airing on Marquee with the radio feed on 670 The Score.
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