Chicago Cubs starter Trevor Williams was reintroduced to something Wednesday night in Pittsburgh that he hadn’t seen in a while — action in the sixth inning.
Coming off four consecutive starts in which he lasted less than five innings, Williams turned in a strong performance in the Cubs’ 4-1 victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates at PNC Park.
He struck out seven, walked none and allowed just three hits in six innings. Two of those hits and the lone Pirates run came in the sixth.
Williams also was 2-for-3 at the plate and scored a run.
It was the Cubs’ third straight victory and 14th in their last 20. At 26-22, they’re a half-game behind the St. Louis Cardinals (27-22), who shut out the White Sox 4-0 earlier Wednesday. The Cubs go for a series sweep of the Pirates (18-30) at 11:35 a.m. Thursday.
The start Wednesday was delayed a half-hour because of rain. But once underway, the Cubs chased Pirates starter Will Crowe in short order, jumping out to an early 3-0 lead.
Crowe gave up a leadoff walk in the second to Rafael Ortega, who was brought up from Triple-A Iowa before the game when Nico Hoerner went on the 10-day injured list with a strained hamstring. David Bote followed with a two-run homer to center.
Eric Sogard and Williams singled. Sogard moved to third when Joc Pederson flew out and scored when Kris Bryant — playing first base so Anthony Rizzo could rest his tight lower back — singled to center.
That was all Pirates manager Derek Shelton needed to see, and he yanked Crowe in favor of former Cub Duane Underwood Jr.
Underwood pitched 3⅔ shutout innings, striking out two and allowing one hit before giving way to Chris Stratton in the sixth.
Stratton didn’t have the same command, quickly giving up a one-out double to Sogard, Williams’ second single and, after Pederson popped out, an RBI single by Bryant.
Williams cruised through his first five innings, allowing just one hit, a one-out triple in the first to Ben Gamel. But his dominance eroded in the sixth, when Kevin Williams led off with a double and scored on Erik González’s single.
Ross went to the bullpen in the seventh.
“If we’re up a lot, you have leeway to give (Williams) some room,” Ross said before the game.
