In a series that will be remembered for the fan who fell from the stands at PNC Park in the second game, the Chicago Cubs closed out with a resounding 8-3 victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates, with a heavy punishment on ace Paul Skenes, with three home runs by Dansby Swanson, Kyle Tucker and Seiya Suzuki in the fifth inning.
Suzuki added a two-run homer off reliever Kyle Nicolas, and Chicago won two of three games against the last-place Pirates.
Skenes (3-3), who was coming off a masterful performance in the victory over the Dodgers last Friday with an unforgettable postcard of a strikeout to Shohei Ohtani, now struggled in his shortest start of the season.
Skenes leaves the game in the fifth inning
The 22-year-old National League Rookie of the Year lasted just five innings. His four walks matched his total from last season and the aggressive Cubs pounced in the fifth inning to turn a two-run deficit into a 3-2 lead.
Swanson opened the fifth with his sixth home run. Tucker added his eighth two batters later and Suzuki put Chicago ahead for good with a drive into the left field stands. Ian Happ, a native of Pittsburgh, had three hits. Swanson, Suzuki and Michael Busch each had two hits for the Cubs.
Colin Rea (2-0) allowed two runs in six innings, his longest outing of the season, for Chicago.
Bryan Reynolds hit his ninth home run for Pittsburgh. The Pirates have lost four of five games.
Followers of a fallen fan
A crowd of 13,633 attended the matinee, including some in the same front-row seats in right field, over the 21-foot-high Clemente Wall, from which a fan fell Wednesday night. The unidentified man was in critical condition at Allegheny General Hospital on Thursday after what Pittsburgh Police described as an accident.
The broadcaster read a statement from Pirates owner Bob Nutting before the first pitch, in which Nutting called the incident “one of the most difficult moments many of us have experienced.”
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