Pirates lead, fall behind and come back to beat Cubs

Josh Bell #55 of the Pittsburgh Pirates singles in the seventh inning for his first major league hit in the seventh inning during the game against the Chicago Cubs at PNC Park on July 8, 2016 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

(July 8, 2016 - Source: Justin K. Aller/Getty Images North America)

The Pittsburgh Pirates (45-42) lead, fall behind and come back as they beat the Chicago Cubs (52-34) 8-4 in the opener of their three-game series.

Pittsburgh took an early lead in the second inning. 3B David Freese led off with a home run to put the Pirates up 1-0. It was his 10th long ball of the season.

LF Starling Marte followed with a single and went on to steal second base. He advanced to third base on a flyout by 2B Josh Harrison and came home on a two-run homer from SS Sean Rodriguez.

In the fourth inning, Chicago got on the scoreboard. CF Jason Heyward tripled with one out and scored on a groundout by 3B Javier Baez.

The Cubs tied the game in the sixth inning. With SS Addisson Russell on third base, C Miguel Montero hit his fifth homer of the year to even the score at three runs apiece.

The seventh inning turned out to be eventful and decisive. 1B Anthony Rizzo put Chicago ahead 4-3 with his 21st home run of the season. But the celebrations did not last for long.

PH Adam Frazier drew a walk to lead off in the bottom of the frame. PH Josh Bell followed with a single on the first pitch he saw in his MLB career. Adam Frazier advanced to third base on the play and came home for the tying run after another single from 1B John Jaso.

Despite throwing only 88 pitches to this point, the Cubs decided it was time to relieve SP Jake Arrieta (12-4). The 30-year old, who finds himself in a bit of a slump lately, worked 6 innings, giving up 9 hits, 1 walk and 6 earned runs while fanning 6. His ERA and WHIP went up to 2.68 and 1.09, respectively.

With runners on first and second base, RF Gregory Polanco reached on a throwing error by Anthony Rizzo and Josh Bell came home to put the Pirates up 5-4. John Jaso moved to third base on the play.

CF Andrew McCutchen singled next to drive in John Jaso for the 6-4 lead. Back-to-back hits into fielder’s choice produced Pittsburgh’s seventh run by PR Eric Fryer.

The Pirates loaded the bases in the eighth with back-to-back one-out walks to PH Matt Joyce and SS Jody Mercer and Andrew McCutchen was hit by a pitch with two outs. Each runner advanced one base on a wild pitch, resulting in a run from Matt Joyce.

CL Mark Melancon earned his 27th save of the year by recording one out in the ninth inning. He now posts a 1.26 ERA with a 1.01 WHIP.

Pittsburgh’s SP Francisco Liriano pitched 5 innings, allowing 3 hits, 3 walks and 1 earned run while striking out 3. He has a 5.15 ERA with a 1.62 WHIP on the season.

David Freese went 2-for-4 with 1 run, 1 HR and 1 RBI. He is batting .300 this year and has 42 runs, 10 HR and 38 RBI.