CHICAGO _ It isn't particularly sexy, stealing ahead late on a pair of wild throws home, but the Pirates did not seem to mind. They walked away from Wrigley Field on Sunday with a three-game sweep of the Chicago Cubs, the reigning National League Central division and World Series champions.
The Cubs' grim fate was clear once Adam Frazier popped a three-run homer off reliever Justin Grimm in the ninth, putting a bow on the Pirates 6-1 win, their first sweep of the Cubs since 2014.
Before Frazier's blast began to clear the crowd of 39,422, and before a duel of disastrous defense in the seventh and eighth, the game was scoreless. That changed when the Pirates defense handed the Cubs a one-run lead with an error and a misplay in the seventh. The Cubs responded in kind. They threw away the game with two throwing errors in the eighth.
Next, the Pirates (6-6) continue their NL Central road trip with three games in St. Louis. The Cardinals entered Sunday night with a 3-8 record. They have not yet won a series.
Right-hander Jameson Taillon is accustomed to having little run support. The Pirates provided him just two runs in his previous two starts. Through seven innings Saturday, they offered none.
Taillon plowed along anyway. The Cubs' only run was unearned. Taillon allowed seven hits and walked three. He had six strikeouts, all finished by his cheat-code curveball _ four looking, two swinging. He thrived in tight spots, and he threw a career-high 108 pitches, 70 strikes.
The Pirates couldn't crack Cubs left-hander Jon Lester, who finished second in National League Cy Young award voting last year. He allowed three hits and two walks in seven shutout innings.
Pittsburgh scotched a shot at the lead in the first inning. Lester's first seven pitches were balls. He recovered to run the count full against Starling Marte. The ninth pitch of the at-bat was a swinging strike three, and catcher Willson Contreras cut down Jordy Mercer attempting to steal.
The next batter, Andrew McCutchen, ripped a triple into the right-field corner, beyond the reach of sliding outfielder Ben Zobrist. David Freese grounded out, and the Pirates left empty-handed.
The Cubs' first-inning rally was thwarted by a replay review. Kris Bryant's fielder's choice grounder was ruled a double play after a reply official determined Kyle Schwarber had violated the slide rule when he slid into second base and rolled through the bag to avoid a double play.
The Pirates stranded runners at the corners in the fourth, and Taillon bunted into a double play to end the fifth. After a 1-2-3 sixth, Contreras stole the seventh. After Freese walked leading off, Contreras picked him off at first base. Josh Harrison was hit by pitch with two outs, and then on Lester's 103rd and final pitch of the day, Contreras sniped Harrison as he tried for second.
Taillon _ or the defense behind him, rather _ finally bent in the bottom of the seventh. Jordy Mercer failed to field a grounder up the middle, turning a would-be double play into a two-on, no-outs scenario. Pinch-hitter Tommy La Stella, behind 1-2 in the count, reached for Taillon's curveball and lashed it to left. Frazier took a looping route toward the line and dived. The baseball tipped off his mitt _ it was ruled a double _ and Jason Heyward crossed the plate.
A scoreless deadlock was broken. But Taillon let the Cubs' lead go no further. A one-out walk loaded the bases for Bryant. His grounder to third base led to a force-out at the plate. Slugger Anthony Rizzo worked a full count and popped up a curveball to shortstop, ending the threat.
With Lester out, the Pirates punched back against reliever Koji Uehara in the eighth. Uehara faced four batters and recorded no outs. Mercer, using his bat to make amends for his error, blooped a bases-loaded single to shallow center field, tying the game and chasing Uehara.
Reliever Hector Rondon did his job, getting back-to-back grounders and a fly ball, but his defense resisted. On the first grounder, the Cubs got the out at the plate. On the second, Rizzo's throw pulled Contreras' plant foot off the plate, scoring to go-ahead run.
The Pirates tacked on a fourth run when Freese flied out to right field, a ball too shallow to be a sacrifice fly. Mercer bluffed tagging up and drew a throw from Heyward, who moved to right field from center before the inning. The throw skipped past Contreras, and Mercer scored.
After Frazier homered off Grimm, blowing the game open, starting pitcher Chad Kuhl pinch-hit. He walked. At that point, Wrigley Field slowly emptied, and the Pirates bullpen closed the door.
