North Shore Nine

Pirates win their 20th game of the season. Jared Jones pitched 6 strong innings and the bullpen was able to shut it down for the win. Offensively the Pirates got a pair of home runs and some timely hitting to secure the victory

Game started off good for the Pirates. Connor Joe singled out of the leadoff spot. A lineout and a fielders choice led to two outs and Edward Olivares came to the plate. Who then promptly deposited the ball into centerfield, giving the Pirates a early 2-0 lead. Jared Jones was able to come out and pitched a scoreless bottom half to send it to the 2nd. Top half was uneventful for the Pirates. To start the bottom half Ian Happ hit his 2nd home run of the year to RF cutting the Pirates lead to 2-1. Jones struck out the next two and even after a two out single got a ground out to get out of the frame. Both teams went 1-2-3 through their respective ends of the 3rd inning.
In the 4th after a Olivares strikeout Nick Gonzales then did his best Olivares impression and deposited the ball into the stands. Yasmani Grandal and Jack Suwinski then both struck out but the Pirates pushed their lead to 3-1. The extra lead did not last long. A two out double followed by a single cut the score to 3-2. However, a fly out then ended the inning preserving the Pirate lead. In the 5th, the Pirates and Cubs traded RBI doubles to put the score 4-3 going into the 6th. Bryan Reynolds with the RBI double for the Pirates, with Cody Bellinger doing likewise for the Cubs.
In the 6th, Edward Olivares doubled to lead off the frame, then advancing on a Gonzales fly-out. Then with the infield in Grandal hit a low liner to RF. Which was misplayed by Seiya Suzuki allowing Olivares to score and putting Grandal at second. Suwinski struck out, leading to a pitching change, bringing up Michael A. Taylor who did the same. Jones came out for a clean 6th ending his night and leaving with Pirates bullpen with a 2 run cushion. Alika Williams began the inning with a single, but ended stranded at 1B by frames end. Aroldis Chapman came on for the bottom of the 7th for the Pirates. He pitched a clean 1-2-3 inning to move onto the 8th and the Pirates bats.
Pirates went 1-2-3 in the top of the 8th, leading into Colin Holderman and the middle of the Cubs lineup. He promptly hit Suzuki putting a man on 1st. Bellinger then hit a dribbler in front of the mound leading to an error by Grandal on the throw putting men at 2nd and 3rd with no outs. A sac-fly cut the lead to 1, with the man still on 2nd with one out. Fortunately, Holderman was able to buckle down and get out of the inning without further damage.
Suwinski led of the Pirates ninth and completed his Golden Sombrero for the evening. Taylor popped up and Williams stuck out leading to David Bednar coming on to try to save the game. He went 1-2-3 earning his 9th save and giving Jared Jones the win.
The Pirates will be back in action tomorrow afternoon with Paul Skenes on the mound for his second start in the majors. He will go up against Kyle Hendricks in the 1st of three straight 2:20 PM EST starts.