Cubs 12, Pirates 2: a 16-hit night that stopped the slide at Wrigley
Chicago buried Pittsburgh under a 16-hit barrage on Friday to end a four-game skid and steady a wild-card push that had wobbled in Milwaukee.
The Cubs needed a night like this. Swept in Milwaukee and riding a four-game losing streak into Friday, Chicago answered with a 12-2 demolition of the Pittsburgh Pirates at Wrigley Field — 16 hits, a hit from every starter, and five multi-hit games.
How it unfolded
Pittsburgh actually led first, scoring inside the game's first two batters. It didn't last. Chicago hung five runs on the Pirates in the second inning, added four more in the fourth — capped by Alex Bregman's 25th home run of the season, dropped into the basket — and tacked on three across the sixth and seventh. Pittsburgh's only other answer was a solo homer in the sixth.
Seiya Suzuki finished a home run shy of the cycle with a single, double and triple, and shared player-of-the-game honors with Bregman, per Bleacher Nation. Carson Kelly doubled and threw out a would-be base stealer, and Pete Crow-Armstrong's RBI single pushed him to 98 RBIs on the year.
Imanaga does his part
Shota Imanaga gave the Cubs six innings, allowing five hits and two runs — notably the first time in his career he'd allowed multiple runs to Pittsburgh, according to Yahoo Sports. Javier Assad kept it clean in relief.
Why it matters
It was Chicago's 80th game scoring five or more runs this season, closing in on the franchise's 2019 mark of 82. The bigger picture: the Cubs sit second in the NL Central at 83-67, ten games behind the runaway Brewers (93-57), so the road to October runs through the wild card — and every September stumble invites the field back in. A caution flag, though: the .500 Pirates took the Sunday rematch 4-3, a reminder that one loud Friday doesn't fix a lineup's week.