Pirates strand 10 runners against Cubs for 7th consecutive loss

The brave souls who showed up to the North Shore saw Mitch Keller strike out the side on sliders, Hayden Wesneski pitch an immaculate inning and Kevin Newman hit a home run that put the lights out.

What they didn’t see was a Pittsburgh Pirates victory.

The Pirates had runners on second and third in the ninth inning when Rodolfo Castro lined out to center to end a game where they went 1 for 9 with runners in scoring position and stranded 10 runners.

In his return after seven weeks on the injured list, All-Star closer David Bednar gave up the deciding run as the Chicago Cubs beat the Pirates, 3-2, on Thursday night before an announced crowd of 9,166 at PNC Park.

“That’s the frustrating part: We couldn’t get the big hit,” Pirates manager Derek Shelton said. “If you go into that situation, you lose 3-2 and you don’t have the opportunities, then it’s different. We had opportunities, and it’s an area that we need to be better at.”

It was the seventh consecutive defeat for the Pirates, who were swept in four games by the New York Mets and in two games by the New York Yankees and now are five losses shy of their second consecutive 100-loss season.

The Cubs took a 2-0 lead against Pirates starter Keller on Christopher Morel’s two-run double in the second inning. Keller fanned the next five batters, striking out the side on sliders in the third.

“Just being more aggressive mentality-wise made the pitch a lot better,” Keller said. “Instead of trying to place it for strikes, just being aggressive with it. I thought that hurt me in the second inning.”

The Pirates cut it to 2-1 in the third, when Jason Delay drew a one-out walk, reached second on an Oneil Cruz fielder’s choice and scored on a two-out single to right by Bryan Reynolds, who went 3 for 3 with an intentional walk and a pair of doubles.

Keller (5-12) was solid in six innings, allowing two runs four hits and two walks and striking out seven. So was Cubs rookie right-hander Wesneski (2-1). In his fourth major-league appearance and second start, the No. 12 prospect in the Cubs’ system allowed two runs on five hits and two walks. He struck out six.

Wesneski threw an immaculate inning in the fifth by striking out Jack Suwinski, Zack Collins and Delay on nine pitches, all strikes.

“I know it’s rare and I know it happens, but you don’t look at it any different,” Shelton said. “It’s one of those things where he executed pitches in that inning, and I think he had two of those looking, too.”

In the sixth, Wesneski gave up a one-out double to Reynolds and walked Ben Gamel before getting Cal Mitchell swinging at a full-count cutter.

The Pirates replaced Keller with Bednar, who was activated from the injured list after being out since Aug. 3 with low back tightness. Bednar allowed one run on two hits and one walk with one strikeout, throwing 14 of his 24 pitches for strikes.

“I attribute it to rust from not being in a major-league game,” Shelton said. “He wasn’t very sharp is the way he looked. The curveball was in the zone. The fastball looked like he was trying to throw strikes instead of going right after guys. I think that happens when it’s your first time back out. We wanted to ease him back in. We knew that the first time he pitched — maybe more than the first time he pitched — was not going to be in the ninth. We just needed him to get back on the mound.”

Alfonso Rivas lined a single to center off Bednar, then stole second base and scored on Michael Hermosillo’s single to left for a 3-1 lead. Morel drew a full-count walk to put runners on first and second, but Zack McKinstry lined out to Newman for a double play.

“It was awesome to get back out there again,” Bednar said. “Obviously don’t want to give up runs, but it kind of comes with it. A little rusty, but as the inning got on, I felt more comfortable and got more of that game-speed type look to it. I felt good but was just missing just a little bit. That’ll come as I shake some rust off and get back at it next time.”

Newman then smacked Wesneski’s first-pitch slider 351 feet down the left-field line for his second homer of the season to cut it to 3-2 to lead off the bottom of the seventh. Soon after, the lights went out at PNC Park for a moment before flashing back on.

“That was kind of a strange occurrence,” Shelton said. “It was kind of like being at a game where the lights go out in a gym. I don’t think I had ever seen it at a baseball field.”

Brandon Hughes replaced Wesneski, only to walk Collins, give up a double to Delay and intentionally walk Reynolds to load the bases before being pulled. Mark Leiter Jr. got Castro swinging to end the rally.

Leiter hit pinch hitter Ke’Bryan Hayes in the left shoulder with one out in the ninth, and Hayes advanced to second on a wild pitch. Leiter got Cruz swinging at a 2-2 changeup for the second out but walked Reynolds. Both runners stole a base, putting them in scoring position.

“We need to be able to capitalize when we get guys in scoring position,” Shelton said. “(Castro) hit two balls hard. He lined out twice with runners in scoring position, but we’ve got to have better at-bats with runners in scoring position.”