Jack Suwinski's 9th-inning home run beats Cubs as Pirates snap 5-game losing streak

The moment was one Jack Suwinski could only dream about. Playing in his hometown and in front of his family at Wrigley Field, he knew one swing could change the outcome.

Chicago Cubs closer Daniel Palencia was bringing the heat, touching 101.6 mph on the radar gun with his first pitch to Suwinski. When Palencia fired a 101-mph heater down the middle, Suwinski showed why the Pittsburgh Pirates haven’t given up on him.

Suwinski played the anti-hero in his hometown, as he smacked a solo home run 376 feet into the left-field seats in the ninth inning to lead the Pittsburgh Pirates to a 3-2 over the Chicago Cubs on Friday afternoon.

“It’s huge, especially with a great arm on the mound and a tied game,” Suwinski said on the SportsNet Pittsburgh postgame show. “To provide a run like that is huge and, obviously, makes it feel like the process is good and some of that hard work makes it feel really good.”

Only two years removed from leading the Pirates with 26 home runs, Suwinski entered the game with a .118 batting average amid a search to return to being the slugger they so desperately need. The William H. Taft High School graduate, who grew up a White Sox fan, played the spoiler against the Cubs with the opposite-field homer.

“That was sick, especially being here in Chicago for him,” Pirates manager Don Kelly said. “To go backside like that, in that moment of the game against Palencia, just so many things adding up. A really cool moment for him. The hard work is paying off. He’s been having really good at-bats. It’s just really awesome.”

The Pirates (52-71) started the three-game series by snapping a five-game losing streak against NL Central opponents, losing two to the Cincinnati Reds before being swept by the Milwaukee Brewers.

Returning to the starting rotation after spending most of the season in the bullpen, rookie right-hander Braxton Ashcraft made his first five-inning start. Ashcraft allowed one run on three hits without a walk and four strikeouts. His four-seam fastball sat at 97.6 mph, touching 98.7, and he threw 41 of his 61 pitches for strikes with nine whiffs and nine called strikes.

“It’s nice to go out there and cover five innings and do it efficiently and be available for a sixth. But I guess there’s a plan there, and you try to trust it and be at peace with it,” Ashcraft said. “This is a role that I’ve filled for my entire career, so it’s not anything new.”

The Pirates got production from the bottom of their lineup, as Suwinski, Jared Triolo (2 for 4), Henry Davis and Isiah Kiner-Falefa combined for five of their six hits. They took a 1-0 lead in the fourth inning, when Nick Gonzales drew a two-out walk and scored on Andrew McCutchen’s double to the right-field corner.

The Cubs tied the score in the bottom of the fourth. Seiya Suzuki hit a leadoff double to left, then scored on Pete Crow-Armstrong’s two-out single to right. Crow-Armstrong was thrown out at second base by right fielder Bryan Reynolds to end the inning.

The Pirates got a bad break in the fifth. Davis hit a sharp grounder down the third-base line, but it hit third base umpire Clint Vondrak and stopped, allowing Matt Shaw to throw Davis out at second base. Ronny Simon drew a two-out walk and stole second base, but Colin Rea got Spencer Horwitz swinging at a 2-2 slider low and inside. It was the fifth strikeout for Rea, who allowed one run on three hits and two walks on 87 pitches over five innings before being replaced.

The breaks went the Pirates’ way in the seventh, when Triolo singled to right, stole second and then scored on a two-out double by Kiner-Falefa to the left-center gap for a 2-1 lead.

But the Cubs tied it again in the bottom of the inning. It started with left-handed reliever Evan Sisk, acquired from Kansas City in the Bailey Falter trade and recalled from Triple-A Indianapolis, hitting Crow-Armstrong with a pitch.

Isaac Mattson replaced Sisk but gave up a single to Nico Hoerner. Dansby Swanson’s sacrifice bunt spun away from catcher Davis, whose fielding error filled the bases. Shaw hit a sacrifice fly to center to score Crow-Armstrong to make it 2-2.

In the eighth, Ian Happ drew a two-out, full-count walk against Mattson, who was relieved by Dennis Santana. On his third pitch, Davis threw out Happ while attempting to steal second to end the inning.

Suwinski’s swing gave the Pirates a 3-2 lead in the top of the ninth. Crow-Armstrong hit a leadoff single but slid past second base on a steal and was tagged out by Triolo, as the 2024 Gold Glove winner fielded Davis’ short-hop throw to the edge of the grass. Santana (4-4) got Hoerner to fly out to left and Swanson to ground out to short for the win.

“It never gets old, just coming home and being able to play here and getting this win,” Suwinski told SportsNet Pittsburgh in an on-field interview. “Everyone played really hard, pitched really well and the defense was awesome. Just coming out with the win is great.”