Photo provided by Matt Lynch
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.
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.
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
Paul Skenes: 7.0 innings, four hits, two runs, one walk, four strikeouts, 82 pitches/53 strikes
Gregory Soto: 1.0 inning, one hit, two runs, two walks, two HBPs, two strikeouts, 31 pitches/16 strikes
Ryan O’Hearn: 1 for 4, one home run, three RBI, one run
Noteworthy
Bryan Reynolds became the first Pirate to score 100 runs in a season since Andrew McCutchen in 2012.
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.
Konnor Griffin (20 years, 141 days) became the youngest player to bat leadoff for the Pirates since 1901.
Rafael Flores Jr. extended his hitting streak to seven games.
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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