Pirates Prevail: Ramírez Shows Grit in Extras for Wild Win Over Cubs at Wrigley

In a wild and whacky game at Wrigley Field, the Pittsburgh Pirates prevailed over the Chicago Cubs with a resilient 4-3 win in 11 innings on Saturday afternoon.

Scoring Plays

Top 2nd, 1-0 PIT:With runners on the corners and no outs, Spencer Horwitz grounded into a double play but Marcell Ozuna scored from third.

Top 3rd, 3-0 PIT:The Pirates (9-5) tacked on two more against Edward Cabrera in the third. Bryan Reynolds roped an RBI single to right and Ryan O’Hearn followed with a sacrifice fly.

Bottom 5th, 3-1 PIT:The Cubs (6-8) got on the board in the fifth inning when Nick Hoerner plated Michael Conforto from third base on a groundout to second against Braxton Ashcraft .

Bottom 7th, 3-2 PIT:Hoerner grounded out to short against Justin Lawrence which plated Miguel Amaya .

Bottom 9th, 3-3:Down to their last strike, the Cubs tied the game on Alex Bregman ’s RBI single to right-center off Dennis Santana .

Top 11th,With runners on first and second and two outs, Brandon Lowe hit a tapper back to Caleb Thielbar (1-2). The left-hander delivered an off-line throw to first base, which allowed Nick Gonzales to score on the error.

Key Moments

The Pirates bullpen was able to escape jams in the seventh and eight innings but was unable to do it for a third straight inning. Dennis Santana left an 0-2 sinker up in the zone and Alex Bregman took advantage of the mistake.

After the Pirates came up empty in the top of the 10th, Yohan Ramírez (2-0) kept the Cubs off the board by getting Dansby Swanson to bounce out to second with the bases loaded to end the inning.

The Cubs had two in scoring position with nobody out following Ramírez throwing error in the bottom of the 11th. Ramírez got Travis Shaw to pop out to shallow right and Alex Bregman to foul out to first. After intentionally walking Ian Happ to load the bases, Ramírez fell behind 3-0 to Seiya Suzuki but got him to foul out to first to end the game.

Player of the Game

Oneil Cruz finished with four hits in five at-bats and stole three bases. His four hits were the most he’s had in a game since Aug. 27. 2024 when he had four hits against the Cubs at PNC Park and his three steals set a career-high.

Stat to Know

Oneil Cruz became the first Pirate with four hits and three steals in a game since Matt Lawton on July 26, 2005 ( via Sarah Langs ).

Notable Performances

• Braxton Ashcraft: 5.0 innings, four hits, one run, one walk, nine strikeouts, 77 pitches/50 strikes

• Yohan Ramírez: 2.0 innings, no hits, no runs, three walks, no strikeouts, 32 pitches/18 strikes

• Oneil Cruz: 4 for 5, one double, one run, one walk (intentional), three steals

• Nick Yorke : 3 for 4, one double, one walk

• Bryan Reynolds: 2 for 5, one RBI

Noteworthy

• Oneil Cruz extended his hitting streak to 10 games, which is the longest active streak in baseball and the second-longest of his career.

• Braxton Ashcraft set a career-high with nine strikeouts. His previous career-high was eight, which he set in his last start against the Baltimore Orioles at PNC Park.

• Nick Hoerner’s RBI groundout off Ashcraft snapped a stretch of 15.1-consecutive scoreless innings from Pirates starting pitchers.

• Konnor Griffin recorded the first stolen base of his career in the second inning.

• Entering play, Cubs starter Edward Cabrera hadn’t given up a run and allow allowed two hits through his first two starts of the season (11.2 innings).

Up Next

Pittsburgh will look to break out the brroms with RHP Bubba Chandler (0-1, 3.12 ERA) on the mound on Sunday afternoon. Former Pirate RHP Jameson Taillon (0-1, 2.53 ERA) will start for the Cubs. First pitch: 2:20 p.m. ET on SportsNet Pittsburgh/93.7 The Fan.

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