CHICAGO — Kevin Newman needed a rebound. So did the Pirates. They both found what they were looking for Sunday during Pittsburgh’s 4-3 victory over the Cubs at Wrigley Field, one that helped the visitors secure a four-game series win.
A day after committing two errors — 66% of his entire total in 2021 — Newman responded with two hits, including a go-ahead RBI double in the third inning. He also made a couple of slick defensive plays in a performance the Pirates are more used to seeing from their Gold Glove finalist at shortstop.
Aside from Newman, Ben Gamel and Yoshi Tsutsugo drove in runs, while the Pirates bullpen — specifically Dillon Peters and Wil Crowe — once again did the job, covering the final six innings and allowing just one run.
It was a marked change from Saturday’s 21-0 shellacking, one that spun out of control when Newman’s two errors extended the second inning and helped the Cubs score eight runs.
One of Newman’s biggest plays Sunday came in the third inning, after starter JT Brubaker allowed a leadoff single to Cubs catcher Willson Contreras. Left fielder Ian Happ hit a comebacker, and Brubaker nearly skipped a throw into center field. Newman helped his pitcher by picking the throw out of the dirt, then turning the double play.
Newman’s second outstanding play came in the fifth inning, after second baseman Nick Madrigal hit a ball in the hole between short and third. Newman ran it down and made a strong throw across the diamond for the out.
The Pirates’ held a two-run lead for much of the game until Heath Hembree gave up a solo home run to Happ with out out in the eighth inning. David Bednar closed it out in the ninth, striking out Frank Schwindel with the bases loaded to end it.
Another terrific outing from Dillon Peters followed Brubaker. Peters began the day Sunday having not allowed a hit in 25 plate appearances to start the season, the longest for a Pirate since at least 1974. Furthermore, opposing hitters were a combined 0 for 21 against him.
Those runs ended with a soft single to start the fourth, although it was all Peters allowed. The left-hander stretched his scoreless streak to 10 1/3 innings while also striking out two. He’s one of just three relievers in the National League to work 10-plus innings without allowing a run.
Need a tense moment from this one? That occurred after Peters left and Wil Crowe took over. Yoshi Tsutsugo made a fine defensive play to end the sixth, but a ball that dropped between the Pirates first baseman and Michael Chavis, who played second Sunday, put runners on the corners with nobody out.
Crowe responded by striking out Madrigal looking on a terrific sinker, low and away. Designated hitter Rafael Ortega pooped out to third, and right fielder Seiya Suzuki lined out to center to end the threat.
With 1 1/3 more scoreless innings this season, Crowe ran his total to 13 1/3 this season.
Much like they have all season, the Pirates fell into an early hole, making Sunday the 14th time in 16 contests where the opposing team has scored first. The Cubs’ first run, however, was highly unconventional.
Designated hitter Rafael Ortega led off with a double and scored on a rare Ke’Bryan Hayes error, the Pirates third baseman trying to play a long hop and simply misjudging the ball’s height.
It was just the fifth error Hayes — who leads everyone with five Defensive Runs Saved this season, per FanGraphs — has made in 134 MLB games.
Cubs first baseman Frank Schwindel made it a 2-0 game by taking an inside-out approach to a Brubaker single, the right-handed hitter pushing it into right field.
Gamel knocked in the Pirates’ first run with his single in the second, a down-and-in fastball that Gamel shot through the right side at 102.6 mph. Pittsburgh tied it on Tsutsugo’s sacrifice fly, which came after a Bryan Reynolds leadoff walk, and Hayes smacked a fastball on the outer half into right field for a double.
Up next was Newman, who smoked a line drive to center field at 105.3 mph, putting a solid swing on a fastball down. And the Pirates were able to extend their lead to 4-2 whenever Cubs shortstop Jonathan Villar threw wildly to first, allowing Diego Castillo to score.
Some sort of non-COVID illness has been making its way through the Pirates clubhouse, and that issue may have cut short Brubaker’s start in this one. The right-hander lasted just three innings, though he was getting noticeably better at the time he was pulled.
Brubaker allowed two runs (one earned) on three hits with two walks and four strikeouts. If Brubaker wasn’t feeling like himself, it may explain his dip in velocity; despite his sinker averaging 93.9 mph on the season, that pitch was coming in at 91.4 on Sunday.
