PITTSBURGH _ Powered by home runs from Josh Harrison and Josh Bell, the Pirates overcame another shaky start from right-hander Tyler Glasnow and avoided a series sweep at PNC Park with a 6-5 defeat of the Chicago Cubs on Wednesday night.
The Pirates (9-12) lost 14-3 in the first game of the series, and 1-0 in the second. In the third game, the offense came alive early and provided cushion for the Pirates bullpen. The Cubs (12-9) were 14-4 against Pittsburgh in 2016 but have lost four of their first six meetings this season.
It was another abbreviated start for the rookie starter Glasnow. Staked to an early four-run lead, he threw 89 pitches, only 46 of them strikes, in 3 1/3 innings. He allowed six hits and three runs. He walked four, hit one and struck out four. His season ERA creeped north from 7.94 to 7.98.
Glasnow struck out Willson Contreras looking on a bases-loaded, full-count fastball in the first inning. In the second, Glasnow plunked Anthony Rizzo to force home a run. The rookie was charged with another earned run when Gregory Polanco dropped a deep fly ball in the fourth.
Glasnow was lifted after Polanco's drop. The bullpen set to work. Left-hander Wade LeBlanc and right-hander Juan Nicasio bridged the middle innings to the late-inning lineup. Left-hander Felipe Rivero tossed a scoreless seventh. After Rizzo hit a two-run home run off right-hander Daniel Hudson in the eighth, closer Tony Watson secured the four-out save.
Cubs left-hander Jon Lester gave up 10 hits and five runs in 5 2/3 innings.
Since the Pirates were shut out Tuesday, manager Clint Hurdle pulled out an old trick Wednesday. He shuttled Harrison to the leadoff spot, where Hurdle feels his energy plays best. It's a move Hurdle often employs when the offense scuffles. In those instances, Hurdle sometimes refers to Harrison as a spark plug. Before Wednesday's game, Hurdle had a new line.
"It's like Tabasco sauce," Hurdle said. "See if we can lighten the flavor a little bit."
Harrison provided immediate spice. He whacked Lester's 1-2 fastball over the wall in left-center field for his second home run this season, and his fifth career leadoff blast.
The Pirates scored two runs in the first and three in the second. Francisco Cervelli and Phil Gosselin roped run-scoring doubles down the left-field line, each scoring a runner from first base.
After Harrison walked in the second, he baited Lester, whose pickoff problems have been well-documented, by bolting for second base. Lester chased Harrison, and Gosselin took off for home. The throw to the plate was on time, but the catcher Contreras dropped it on the tag.
Jordy Mercer legged out an infield single, putting runners at the corners again, and Andrew McCutchen smacked an RBI double off the Clemente Wall, giving the Pirates a 5-1 lead.
The double-switch Hurdle executed in the fourth to replace Glasnow with the left-hander LeBlanc also brought in Gift Ngoepe, a 27-year-old prospect promoted earlier in the day, to play second base. He is the first African-born player to reach the majors leagues.
In his first at-bat, Ngoepe singled up the middle off Lester. Rizzo rolled the baseball toward the Pirates dugout for a first-hit keepsake. Gerrit Cole scooped the ball and pretended to toss it into the crowd. As teammates rushed to recover the ball, it bounced off the new netting behind the dugout and back to Cole, who laughed at his dastardly deed.
In his second plate appearance, in the sixth, Ngoepe walked.
Bell single-handedly snuffed out a Cubs rally in the fifth. With runners on second and third and one out, he fielded a hard grounder at first base and fired to home plate. The throw, perhaps ill-advised, was snared by Cervelli and the tag applied in time to get Lester.
Bell smacked a sixth-inning solo shot off Lester, his third home run this season and his second from the right side of the plate _ those have been off veterans Lester and C.C. Sabathia.
With Watson on the mound in the ninth, Contreras singled leading off and, after a fielder's choice, Mercer committed an error to put runners on first and second base. The next batter, Albert Almora Jr., bounced a grounder to Mercer, who turned a game-ending double play.
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