Jack Suwinski homers twice but Cubs pummel Pirates' bullpen in blowout win
TribLIVE's Daily and Weekly email newsletters deliver the news you want and information you need, right to your inbox.
Jack Suwinski returned home to Chicago with a bang, hitting a pair of solo shots against the Chicago Cubs — including one that sailed over the scoreboard — for his fourth multi-homer game of the season.
But Ian Happ also hammered his hometown team, as the Mt. Lebanon native hit a three-run homer and drove in another run when he was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded in the four-run seventh inning.
The Cubs pounded the first-place Pirates’ bullpen in cruising to an 11-3 win Tuesday night at Wrigley Field in the first meeting of the season between the NL Central rivals.
The start of the game was delayed an hour by inclement weather.
Suwinski went 2 for 2 with two walks, two homers and two RBIs in his return to his hometown, where he attended William H. Taft High School.
“It’s really special,” Suwinski said on the AT&T SportsNet postgame show. “I have a lot of friends and family here. Just seeing them out there and seeing them in the stands is really cool for me.”
With two outs in the top of the first inning, Suwinski drilled Jameson Taillon’s 1-1 fastball 418 feet to center field to give the Pirates a 1-0 lead. It was his third homer in the past four games.
“He likes hitting in this ballpark, evidently,” Pirates manager Derek Shelton said of Suwinski. “Really good at-bats by Jack.”
Pirates starter Luis Ortiz gave up a leadoff walk to Mike Tauchman and an infield single to third by Nico Hoerner, after the Cubs won a challenge and had the call overturned. With one out, Happ hit a belt-high fastball for his fifth homer, a 393-foot shot to right for a 3-1 Cubs lead.
The Pirates cut it to 3-2 in the second, when Josh Palacios doubled, advanced to third on a Ke’Bryan Hayes groundout to second and scored on Ji Hwan Bae’s single to left.
Suwinski led off the sixth by smashing Taillon’s first-pitch curveball 425 feet and over the scoreboard in right field for another solo homer, his 15th of the season, to tie the game. Taillon allowed three runs on six hits and two walks with four strikeouts in six innings.
“We had a couple opportunities. We didn’t get the big hit when we needed to to extend or take the lead,” Shelton said. “He did a good job closing us out.”
Ortiz (1-3), who allowed four runs on six hits and two walks in 5⅓ innings, kept the Cubs in check until the sixth. Happ drew a one-out walk and advanced to second on Dansby Swanson’s single to short.
Of the Cubs’ 14 hits, six were infield hits — the most against the Pirates since Aug. 27, 2013, when the Milwaukee Brewers also had six. Dauri Moreta replaced Ortiz, but Matt Mervis singled to right to drive in Happ for a 4-3 lead.
The Pirates’ bullpen struggled in the seventh, when the Cubs scored four runs to take control. Yohan Ramirez loaded the bases on a Tucker Barnhart single, Hoerner walk and when Seiya Suzuki reached first when Bae couldn’t corral a grounder to second. Ramirez hit Happ on a full-count sweeper, allowing Barnhart to score for a 5-3 Cubs lead, and Swanson singled on a grounder that went off Ramirez and rolled to first baseman Carlos Santana to score Hoerner for a 6-3 lead.
“We battled back and tied the game then the game got away from us at the end,” Shelton said. “We just didn’t execute pitches.”
Rob Zastryzny replaced Ramirez and gave up a two-out, two-run single to right to pinch hitter Yan Gomes that gave the Cubs an 8-3 edge. In the eighth, Christopher Morel hit a 404-foot, three-run homer to left field off Zastryzny to give the Cubs an 11-3 lead.
“It was pretty close for a while there,” Suwinski said, “then it just snuck away from us at the end.”
Source: TribLIVE
