PITTSBURGH — Bryan Reynolds finished his swing, put his head down and charged out of the batter's box as the ball he hit soared toward center field.
Whether Reynolds thought he made an out or had a hit was indecipherable to those watching. He pumped his arms, churned his legs, took a hard turn around first base and ultimately put himself in perfect position when Cubs center fielder Rafael Ortega rather clumsily dropped the ball.
"That’s the culture we’re talking about," manager Derek Shelton said before the game. "When your best player every night plays like that, it stands out."
On a night where Reynolds had three hits and scored three times, it was what he did running out that innocent fly ball that stood out the most. Perhaps because it was the same sort attitude that helped the Pirates battle back from an early deficit and open a three-game series against the Cubs on Tuesday with an 8-6 victory at PNC Park.
The Pirates, in many ways, mirror their most exciting and talented player in Reynolds. A four-run fourth inning put the Pirates (59-98) ahead. The run Reynolds scored, after Colin Moran drove him home with a single through the ride side, provided some insurance. Credit Michael Chavis, another hustle type, with driving in the go-ahead run.
All of it held up because the Pirates bullpen was steady, shutting down the Cubs after they scored a half-dozen runs against Mitch Keller in what’s likely be his final start of the season.
Trailing by 3 after ceding a three-run lead of their own, the Pirates made their move with a four-run seventh inning. Ben Gamel drove in the first run with a sacrifice fly.
That set the stage for the Pirates’ biggest hit of the game: a two-run triple for Hoy Park, the versatile Park — who started at third — ripping a 2-1 slider a little right of center to tie the game, 6-6.
Park now has hits in eight of past nine games and has reached base safely in 20 of his past 47 plate appearances, with five singles, a double, two triples, a home run and 11 walks.
The Pirates weren’t done, either. Chavis, who had been on the 10-day injured list with a right elbow strain since Aug. 31 (retroactive to Aug. 29), pinch hit after Park and shot a single into right field, pushing the Pirates in front, 7-6.
The run-scoring single continued what Chavis had been doing with Class AAA Indianapolis, where he hit .357 with three home runs and eight RBIs in eight rehab games.
Home runs have not been an issue for Cubs starter Alec Mills, the right-hander giving up just eight over his first 26 games (14 starts) this season. In September, however, Mills has allowed six home runs in four starts, with another one coming in his fifth outing Tuesday.
After Kevin Newman singled and Reynolds doubled, Moran hit his 10th home run of the season on a fastball Mills left up in the zone, the Pirates first baseman driving it into the Cubs bullpen in center field.
Unfortunately for the Pirates, the lead was short-lived. The Pirates went down in order in three of the next four innings, while the Cubs scored three times in the third and fifth to take a 6-3 lead.
First baseman Frank Schwindel put the Cubs on the board when he drove a 1-0 slider the opposite way, through the right side of the infield. Third baseman Matt Duffy cut the Pirates’ lead to 3-2 with his liner to right, this time on a Keller fastball.
Right fielder Nick Martini tied the score when he pulled a first-pitch curveball through the right side of the infield to score a third run.
Chicago kept the line moving in the fifth. Left fielder Ian Happ’s single on a 2-2 fastball up in the zone pushed the Cubs in front before Duffy doubled off the center-field wall — again on a high fastball.
That was the final pitch for Keller, who went four-plus innings and allowed six earned runs on nine hits with three walks and two strikeouts. Happ later scored on a sacrifice fly, a run that was charged to Keller.
Although the Cubs weren’t exactly beating the ball around the park, it was also hard to feel too terribly encouraged by the fact that Keller needed 92 pitches to record 12 outs and allowed six earned runs.
