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Soto’s Wildness Sinks Pirates in Loss to Cubs; Back Under .500
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- Soto’s Wildness Sinks Pirates in Loss to Cubs; Back Under .500
Soto’s Wildness Sinks Pirates in Loss to Cubs; Back Under .500
Gregory Soto lost the strike zone in the eighth inning, and the Pirates lost 4-3 to the Cubs at Wrigley Field on Saturday afternoon because of it.
Scoring Plays
Bottom 1st, 1-0 CHC:With two outs in the inning, Michael Busch gave the Cubs (83-66) the lead with a solo home run to center off Paul Skenes .
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Bottom 3rd, 2-0 CHC:Pedro Ramírez led off the inning with a home run to right field.
Top 6th, 3-2 PIT:Ryan O'Hearn gave the Pirates (74-75) the lead with a three-run home run to right field off Clay Holmes . O-Hearn's 18th homer of the season set a career-high.
Bottom 8th, 4-3 CHC:With the bases loaded and two outs, Gregory Soto (6-4) walked pinch-hitter Matt Shaw and hit Nico Hoerner on the very next pitch to push across the go-ahead run.
Key Moments
Pedro Ramírez led off the eighth inning with a double. Gregory Soto retired the next two batters. But he hit Alex Bregman with a pitch and walked pinch-hitter Seiya Suzuki before his wildness resulted in two Cubs runs.
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Player of the Game
Pedro Ramírez homered, doubled and scored two runs for the Cubs in the win.
Stat to Know
Gregory Soto had not allowed a run in any of his last 12 appearances dating back to Aug. 14 (11.2 innings). The eighth inning the first time he had been scored upon since Aug. 9 vs. the Mets and the first time he allowed multiple runs since June 29 at the Phillies.
Notable Performances
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Paul Skenes: 7.0 innings, four hits, two runs, one walk, four strikeouts, 82 pitches/53 strikes
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Gregory Soto: 1.0 inning, one hit, two runs, two walks, two HBPs, two strikeouts, 31 pitches/16 strikes
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Ryan O'Hearn: 1 for 4, one home run, three RBI, one run
Noteworthy
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Bryan Reynolds became the first Pirate to score 100 runs in a season since Andrew McCutchen in 2012.
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Paul Skenes had not allowed a run in three career starts at Wrigley Field entering play. He now has a 0.78 ERA in four career starts in the historic ballpark.
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Konnor Griffin (20 years, 141 days) became the youngest player to bat leadoff for the Pirates since 1901.
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Rafael Flores Jr. extended his hitting streak to seven games.
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The Pirates placed OF Esmerlyn Valdez on the 10-day IL with a left hamstring strain. OF Ronny Simon was recalled from Triple-A Indianapolis.
Up Next
RHP Bubba Chandler (7-9, 4.25 ERA) starts for the Pirates in Sunday's finale. The Cubs will send out LHP Matthew Boyd (8-4, 4.03 ERA). First pitch: 2:20 p.m. ET on SportsNet Pittsburgh /93.7 The Fan.
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