Henry Davis blasted a solo, go-ahead home run in the bottom of the seventh inning to lift the host Pittsburgh Pirates to a 2-1 victory over the Chicago Cubs on Monday afternoon.
Davis’ fourth homer of the season off Cubs reliever Trent Thornton (2-1) gave the Pirates their fourth win in six games, and dealt Chicago its ninth consecutive loss. It is the Cubs’ longest losing skid since losing 10 straight from July 7-16, 2022.
Pirates pitchers limited the Cubs to just a solo home run by Michael Busch in the fifth inning.
Davis broke a 1-1 tie with a 413-foot shot to left field.
After starter Carmen Mlodzinski gave up that single run and five hits over five innings, Wilber Dotel (1-0) threw three scoreless innings, striking out four and allowing one hit to pick up his first major-league win. Gregory Soto recorded his sixth save after working a scoreless ninth.
Spencer Horwitz had two hits, and a walk, and came up with multiple defensive gems to help Pittsburgh win the pitchers’ duel.
Horwitz twice robbed Pete Crow-Armstrong of hits. First, Horwitz speared a line drive in the fifth. He later came up with a great pick on a hard ground ball by Crow-Armstrong in the top of the seventh with one out.
The Cubs squandered a quality start from Ben Brown, who allowed one run on four hits and two walks, and struck out seven over six innings.
Busch’s home run to center in the fifth came with two outs. Alex Bregman singled, but Mlodzinski and the Pirates escaped the inning when he threw him out trying to steal second. Bregman and Moises Ballesteros led the Cubs at the plate with two hits each.
Brandon Lowe’s RBI double in the third, scored Horwitz to give Pittsburgh a 1-0 lead. Lowe and Oneil Cruz each had two hits.
Pirates manager Don Kelly was ejected in the bottom of the second inning after it appeared Konnor Griffin was hit on the lid of the helmet by a pitch from Brown. The umpires ruled the ball did not hit Griffin and upheld the call after review. It was Kelly’s third ejection this season, and bench coach Khristopher Negron managed the rest of the game.
