Pirates hang on to beat Cubs, avoid sweep
PITTSBURGH -- Josh Bell's homer in the sixth provided the winning margin as the Pittsburgh Pirates avoided being swept by the Chicago Cubs with a 6-5 win Wednesday at PNC Park.
The game featured the major league debut of Gift Ngoepe, making him the first Africa-born player to appear in a major league game.
Ngoepe, who was recalled by Pittsburgh from Triple-A Indianapolis earlier in the day, entered the game at second base in the fourth inning. He singled up the middle in his first at-bat in the fourth, walked in the sixth and struck out in the eighth.
The Pirates (9-12) built a 5-3 lead through four innings. Bell added a solo homer in the sixth to make it 6-3, and Chicago's Anthony Rizzo hit a two-run homer in the eighth for the final scoring.
Pittsburgh had been 2-6, including losses in the first two games of the series, since an improbable sweep of the Cubs from April 14-16 at Wrigley Field.
Chicago (12-9) had won six of its previous seven games.
Pittsburgh's Tyler Glasnow made his fourth start but got his pitch count up quickly and was not around long enough to get a decision. He gave up three runs on six hits with four strikeouts and four walks over 3 1/3 innings.
Wade LeBlanc (1-0) pitched 1 1/3 scoreless innings for the win. Tony Watson pitched the final 1 1/3 innings for his seventh save.
The Cub's Jon Lester (0-1) got his first decision in his fifth start. He allowed six runs, five of them earned, on 10 hits over 5 2/3 innings, with five strikeouts and two walks.
Each starter threw 29 pitches in the first, but only Glasnow got out of it unscathed.
Glasgow got out of situations with two-on and one-out, and bases loaded with two outs, ending the inning by striking out Wilson Contreras.
Lester wasn't as lucky. Josh Harrison hit his fifth career leadoff homer, to left, and Francisco Cervelli's two-out double drove in Gregory Polanco for a 2-0 Pittsburgh lead.
The Cubs cut that in half, 2-1, in the second when Glasnow hit Rizzo with the bases loaded and two outs.
The Pirates picked up three more in the second to make it 5-1, on Phil Gosselin's RBI double, an error by catcher Contreras when he dropped the ball as Gosselin came home an out later, and Andrew McCutchen's RBI double.
Chicago scored twice in the fourth, on Kris Bryant's RBI double and Rizzo's RBI single. In the process, the Cubs chased Glasnow and cut the lead to 5-3.
NOTES: The Pirates optioned RHP Dovydas Neverauskas to Triple-A Indianapolis. He became the first native of Lithuania to play in a major league game Monday against the Cubs. ... Pirates 3B David Freese sat out for the second straight game because of a sore hamstring, although he would have been available to pinch-hit, according to manager Clint Hurdle. ... Both teams have a day off Thursday. Pittsburgh then has games on 17 straight days, the Cubs on 13 straight days.