Olivares, Gonzales Power Pirates to 5-4 Win Over Cubs

Gonzales’ solo home run came in the top of the fourth, two innings after Ian Happ cut the Pirates’ lead in half with a solo homer to right field.

Gonzales’ second home run of the year sparked a punch-counterpunch stretch between the two sides.

In the bottom of the fourth, Nick Madrigal singled home a run to bring Chicago back within a run. Bryan Reynolds got the Pirates the run right back with an RBI-double in the top of the fifth.

The Cubs (25-20) responded in the bottom of the inning on a Cody Bellinger double down the first base line. The Pirates again had an answer as catcher Yasmani Grandal plated Olivares on a sacrifice fly and reached on an error charged to right fielder Seiya Suzuki. 

A hit by pitch and a Grandal error opened the door to a Christopher Morel sac fly in the eighth. 

David Bednar closed out his ninth save of the season with a scoreless ninth inning.

Jared Jones had another quality start for the Pirates, his sixth of the season. The rookie went six innings and allowed three runs on seven hits. Jones (3-4) struck out seven and didn’t walk a single batter. It’s his fifth start of seven-plus strikeouts and no walks through his first nine career starts, which is two more games than the previous record.

Jones also became the 15th pitcher since 1900 to go five-plus innings while allowing three runs or fewer in each of his first nine starts. 

For the Cubs, Steele (0-1) allowed five runs on six hits and struck out seven in 5.2 innings pitched. 

Up Next

Paul Skenes (0-0, 6.75 ERA) will make his second-career start on Friday afternoon at Wrigley. Kyle Hendricks (0-3, 10.04 ERA) will pitch for the Cubs. First pitch: 2:20 ET.

Housekeeping

• On Thursday, the Pirates traded the recently-DFA’d Roansy Contreras to the Los Angeles Angels for cash considerations.