CHICAGO — As the Pirates stepped off the team bus on Sunday night in Chicago, manager Derek Shelton had a brief talk with rookie outfielder Jack Suwinski.
Having also grown up around here, Shelton told Suwinski to cherish this experience and joked that he’d probably be playing for free, with his salary used to purchase extra tickets for family and friends.
Here’s guessing Suwinski won’t mind picking up the tab, especially not after what transpired in the series finale on Wednesday night. With the Pirates looking to avoid a sweep, Suwinski homered in the ballpark located only about 25 minutes from where he went to high school, carrying the Pirates to a 3-2 victory over the Cubs at Wrigley Field.
Suwinski’s parents were here to see it. His sister, too. Amazingly, this wasn’t the first time Suwinski has played a game at the Friendly Confines; that came during the City Championship Series as a sophomore in high school, a two-game event that gave him at least some shred of comfortability with the historic venue.
Whether or not that helped Suwinski during his fifth-inning at-bat against Cubs starter Drew Smyly is probably debatable. But credit to Suwinski, he won an eight-pitch battle by cranking a poorly located cutter 410 feet to center for his third long ball of the season, vaulting him into a third-place tie on the Pirates.
The lead held up because the Pirates got some excellent relief work from Duane Underwood Jr. and David Bednar, the latter picking up his eighth save in as many chances this season. Bednar is the only major league pitcher with multiple six-out saves this season.
The right-hander allowed just one single and struck out two to notch his eighth save in as many chances this season, including his sixth already this month.
Underwood Jr. preceded Bednar and breezed through 2 1/3 scoreless innings, allowing only a two-out walk to center fielder Rafael Ortega and striking out two.
Much like Tuesday night, the Cubs grabbed an early 1-0 lead thanks to a solo home run, this one coming off Wil Crowe, who made his first start of the year. Left fielder Ian Happ got it, sending an 0-1 change-up middle-away from Crowe the opposite way over the fence in left-center.
It was the first home run Crowe has allowed this season and just the third extra-base hit.
Coming into this one having scored just one run in their first 30 innings while tallying four hits in their previous 21 frames, the Pirates were desperate for offense and broke the ice in the third.
Ke’Bryan Hayes led off with a double that fell inches short of landing in the outfield basket. He scored when Michael Chavis drove a 3-1 sinker back up the middle past a Jonathan Villar at second base, scoring one.
Daniel Vogelbach followed with a terrific piece of hitting, taking a 1-2 cutter the opposite way through a hole on the left side of the infield to score another run and give Pittsburgh a 2-1 lead.
Crowe worked two innings and fared well outside of the Happ home run. Replacing him — and making his bullpen debut — was Mitch Keller, who took the ball for the top of the third.
Wednesday’s game wasn’t on AT&T SportsNet, so the YouTube presentation might’ve felt a bit different. One way that was noticeable was with the graphic that was flashed on the screen while Keller was warming up.
Among pitchers with 45 or more starts since 2019, Keller has the worst winning percentage (.241), ERA (6.12), batting average against (.306), WHIP (1.70) and ERA+ (70) of any MLB pitcher. If there was anyone questioning the Pirates trying Keller out of the bullpen, this should have put an end to that.
Keller got through his first inning fine but gave up a run in the second, the result of a leadoff double from right fielder Seiya Suzuki and a run-scoring single smacked to left from designated hitter Frank Schwindel.
Two days after making his fifth error of the season, the Pirates got a couple terrific defensive plays from Hayes early on, including his throw to second to nail Schwindel after Villar rolled an infield single between short and third in the fourth.
Hayes showed some range, patience and a rocket arm on catcher Willson Contreras’ ground ball down the line in the first inning. In his first MLB relief appearance, Keller worked 2 2/3 innings and allowed an earned run on three hits with two walks and four strikeouts.
