Sure, it’s still April, and 148 games remain in the season. For the Pittsburgh Pirates, though, they occupy a rare spot in the National League Central standings.
First place.
A 4-3, 11-inning victory Saturday afternoon at Wrigley Field represented the Pirates’ eighth win in the past 10 games, and their 9-5 record puts them atop the division a couple weeks into the season.
There’s a long way to go, of course, before the Pirates can win their first division title since 1992, but the hot start beats the alternative, witnessed so frequently over the previous 33 seasons.
After blowing a 3-0 lead, the Pirates went ahead in the 11th when reliever Caleb Thielbar threw wildly to first on Brandon Lowe’s tapper in front of the plate. Automatic runner Nick Gonzalez scored from second.
Yohan Ramirez, the seventh Pirates pitcher, escaped a second-and-third, no-out jam in the bottom of the inning to secure the win, the team’s second in a row against the Cubs.
“That’s a gutsy, blue-collar win,” manager Don Kelly told SportsNet Pittsburgh.
One that nearly was accomplished before extra innings.
Ahead 3-2 in the ninth, the Pirates were one strike away from winning in regulation. Closer Dennis Santana blew the save opportunity, giving up the tying RBI single to Alex Bregman on an 0-2 pitch.
Oneil Cruz went 4 for 5, hiking his hitting streak to 10 games, with three steals, a walk and run scored. Nick Yorke had three hits, and Bryan Reynolds had two hits and an RBI.
“It’s always good to win,” Yorke said. “First and foremost, we come in expecting to win. That’s the standard. Nobody is satisfied with this win. We’re going to come in tomorrow and try to get the sweep.”
The Pirates jumped to a 3-0 lead through three innings but couldn’t build on their early lead, going 2 for 18 with runners in scoring position and stranding 12 runners. This run of futility enabled the Cubs to catch up in the ninth.
Called on to pocket his second save in as many days, Santana walked two before giving up the tying run on Bregman’s flare to center.
Pirates starter Braxton Ashcraft set a career high with nine strikeouts in five innings. He allowed one run, four hits and a walk. Of his 77 pitches, Ashcraft threw 50 for strikes.
The go-ahead run scored on Lowe’s tapper that came with runners on first and second and two outs in the 11th. Thielbar threw wildly to first, and Gonzalez scored for a 4-3 lead.
Lowe was credited with a single, marking just the second hit with runners in scoring position for the Pirates and the first since the third inning.
“We need to continue to grind it out with runners in scoring position early in the game,” Kelly said, “but we’ll take a win any way we can get it.”
In the bottom of the inning, Ramirez matched Thielbar with a throwing error on Nico Hoerner’s comebacker. This gaffe put the tying run on third and winning run on second with nobody out.
Ramirez got Matt Shaw to fly out to shallow right, and he retired Bregman on a foul popup to first.
“In that moment, he did a great job of staying within,” Kelly said.
Ian Happ was walked intentionally to load the bases, giving Ramirez no margin for error.
“That’s tough call there loading them because you’re forcing him to throw strikes,” Kelly said. “We liked the matchup better.”
Ramirez fell behind 3-0 on Seiya Suzuki but induced a foul pop on a 3-1 pitch, first baseman Ryan O’Hearn gloving it to end the game.
“The main thing is not to give up,” Ramirez said through an interpreter. “Keep fighting. When your backs are to the wall, keep fighting.”
The Cubs nearly matched the Pirates’ futility with runners in scoring position, finishing 1 for 15.
Marcell Ozuna’s went 0 for 4 and his average dropped to .051, but he helped the Pirates open the scoring by drawing a leadoff walk in the second. Ozuna took third on Yorke’s single to right, and he scored when Spencer Horwitz hit into a double play.
The Pirates increased their lead to 3-0 in the third after getting the leadoff batter aboard for the third inning in a row.
Cruz reached on an infield single and stole second. Lowe walked, and Reynolds hit an RBI single to right. Lowe took third on the hit and scored on O’Hearn’s sacrifice fly.