Bethancourt with 7 RBI game in epic comeback win over Pirates |
PITTSBURGH - Who would've thought on a day when the Pittsburgh Pirates (62-71) would have their Ace Paul Skenes on the mound and a 10-3 lead that it would be the Chicago Cubs (68-66) finding a way to win. That is exactly what happened at PNC Park on Wednesday as the Cubs erased a 10-3 lead and turned it into a 14-10 victory to cap off their sweep of the Pirates.
It was a comeback that took place against the Pirates, who scored 11 runs over the final three innings. Six of those runs came off the bat of Christian Bethancourt, who had a career-high seven RBIs on three hits to lead a Cubs offense that scored 41 runs over this three-game set. Anytime you have a guy like Skenes on the mound, you want to get to him early; otherwise, you may not get to him at all. The Cubs certainly got to him in this one as they scored three runs off him in the first two innings, which was more than they had against him in his previous 13 innings against the Cubs this season. It took another leadoff double from Ian Happ to get things started before he came in to score on a Cody Bellinger single to put the Cubs in front 1-0 in the first. Chicago would add two more runs in the second off a Pete Crow-Armstrong single and a Bethancourt RBI grounder as they had the Pirates in an early 3-1 hole. This was the game plan the Cubs wanted to use as they got after Skense early, but they couldn't tack on when they had a chance. Those three runs were the only runs he would allow before retiring the next eight hitters he faced as he closed out his five-inning start in style. Although the Cubs got off to a great start, Kyle Hendricks didn't, and you saw that right from the jump when Bryan Reynolds took him deep in the first to tie things up 1-1. The Pirates eventually loaded the bases in the first inning before coming away without further damage, as the Professors' command was non-existent. Then came the second inning, when the Pirates not only rallied to tie things up again but managed to take a 6-3 lead. They pushed across five runs in that inning, all of them charged to Hendricks. It all started with a leadoff walk to Yasmani Grandal followed by a Jared Triolo double as the Pirates had runners on second and third and no outs. Hendricks managed to retire the next two hitters, but with Isiah Kiner-Falefa driving in a run with a groundout the Pirates were within 3-2. That was when things really started to get out of hand as a Reynolds single brought things back to even 3-3 before a bloop single off the bat of Rowdy Tellez brought home a pair to give the Pirates their first lead of the game 5-3. Pittsburgh would tack on an additional run off the Billy McKinney ground-rule double to extend their lead to 6-3 before Ethan Roberts finished the inning. Considering Hendricks only lasted 1 2/3 before being yanked, Roberts and the rest of the Cubs pen had to work overtime. While that isn't ideal, you can get by with it when you have an off day tomorrow. Roberts pitched into the fourth inning before being removed with an undisclosed injury. He was charged with two runs in his 1 1/3, with one coming on a Connor Joe homer to begin the fourth and another coming off a perfectly executed Alika Williams sacrifice bunt as the Pirates extended their lead to 8-3. Pittsburgh would tack on two more runs in the fifth off Drew Smyly, with Joe continuing his mastery against the Cubs, pitching with a two-run single and putting the Cubs in a 10-3. The only positive aspect of this massive deficit was that Skenes was out of the game after the fifth, which meant the Cubs had a chance to battle back against a terrible Pirates pen. It wouldn't come easy, but with Bethancourt taking Kyle Nicolas deep in the seventh, the Cubs pulled within 10-5. Chicago had a chance for more, with Happ and Seiya Suzuki working walks to keep the inning alive, only to come away empty. All was not lost, however, as the Cubs offense continued to make quick work of the Pirates pen in the eighth. Following a one-out walk from Dansby Swanson and another Crow-Armstrong single, it was Bethancourt coming through again, as he laced a two-run double to pull the Cubs within 10-7. Bethancourt would come around to score a few pitches later off the Happ single, and suddenly, this was a 10-8 game. You could make the case that the key to the Cubs comeback was the way Daniel Palencia bounced back in the seventh inning as he proceeded to walk the bases loaded only to escape without damage. he then handed things off to Porter Hodge in the eighth as he worked around a leadoff single to keep things 10-8 with just three outs to go. Standing in the Cubs way from a sweep and dropping a finale was David Bednar who has had a terrible season this year. Despite that, Bednar has pitched well against the Cubs this season, but Wednesday wasn't one of those games. Bednar allowed singles to Suzuki and Isaac Paredes to put a pair of runners on while the Nico Hoerner walk loaded the bases with one out. Swanson managed to pull the Cubs within 10-9 with an RBI forceout, but with him being retired on the play, the Cubs were down to their final out. Leave it to the bottom of the order, in particular, Bethancourt to come through as he connected for the go-ahead two-run single off Bednar as the Cubs climbed back to take an 11-10 lead. “I had one fan yelling at me really loud, like, ‘You stink!’” Bethancourt said after the game. “So that went through my mind. I was like, ‘You can not stink this time. You’ve got to make him shut up.’ “And that’s what I did.” The @Cubs rally to take the lead in the 9th! pic.twitter.com/eEtWHMEPNi That was the beginning of four consecutive RBI singles as Happ, Mike Tauchman, and Suzuki delivered RBI singles later in that inning as part of a six-run ninth inning for Chicago, taking their first lead since the second 14-10. Hodge took care of the rest of the Cubs, as he allowed just one hit in two scoreless innings of work to pick up the win, and the Cubs swept away the Pirates 14-10. In what could be their best offensive series of the season, the bottom of the order continues to do damage as Crow-Armstrong led the way with four hits. Bethancourt added three hits and seven RBIs from the No. 9 spot with Happ picking up three more hits from the leadoff spot. Regarding the No. 9 spot, or the catcher position, Miguel Amaya and Bethancourt combined to hit .623 for the series while driving in 13 runs. “I don’t know how you can play better than he’s played,” manager Craig Counsell said in a postgame interview about Bethancourt. “It’s been sparing at-bats, and every time he’s in there, there are extra-base hits, there are RBIs, throwing out runners. He’s been unbelievable. How can you play better than he’s played since he’s been here?” We didn’t hear no bell 💪 Today, Bethancourt recorded his first-career 7-RBI game, making him the sixth catcher in #Cubs history (since 1901) to knock in seven or more in one game 🔥 pic.twitter.com/Sr6HJmCYkd 🤫🤫🤫 pic.twitter.com/mDhftnBhZl "We're playing really good baseball." "Heck of a job by everybody staying in the fight."
Bethancourt: 3-for-5, 7 RBI, HR, 2B, SB
Happ: 3-for-4, 2B, 2 RBI, 2 BB, 2 R
Crow-Armstrong: First-career 4-for-4 game, 4 R, RBI, BB pic.twitter.com/TQVoIcQbew
Ian Happ following today's @Cubs win. pic.twitter.com/VbeBtu8PF5
Craig Counsell after the Cubs' comeback win. pic.twitter.com/hTrSkDVUFB
