Rookie Esmerlyn Valdez hit his second career home run and Oneil Cruz had the first of his three hits to highlight a five-run first inning, putting the host Pittsburgh Pirates on course to a 12-1 victory over the reeling Chicago Cubs on Tuesday night.
Cruz drove in a run with a single and Valdez finished with three RBIs as the Pirates won their third in a row and handed the Cubs their 10th consecutive defeat. The longest active losing streak in the majors is also Chicago’s longest since June 4-16, 2022.
Pittsburgh had 15 hits as Spencer Horwitz and Bryan Reynolds each had two hits and two RBIs. Brandon Lowe had two hits and scored twice. Horwitz hit his sixth home run of the season in the seventh inning, a solo blast to right field off reliever Daniel Palencia.
The offense backed up another quality start for Braxton Ashcraft (4-2), who gave up one run on seven hits and one walk and struck out five over 6 1/3 innings. It was Ashcraft’s fifth consecutive start in which he pitched into the seventh.
Konnor Griffin, 20, became the youngest Pirates’ leadoff hitter since Bobby Del Greco, who was 19 in 1952. Griffin went 1-for-4 and scored a pair of runs.
Cubs starter Jordan Wicks (0-1), who made his season debut after being recalled from Triple-A Iowa on Monday, then gave up a single to Lowe and a two-run double to Reynolds. Two batters later, Cruz singled to drive in Reynolds. Two batters after that, Valdez drove a slider from Wicks 415 feet over the wall in center to put the Pirates ahead 5-0.
Wicks allowed eight runs on nine hits, walked one and struck out five over 4 1/3 innings.
Alex Bregman led the Cubs with two hits, including a double, which led to Chicago’s lone run in the second. Bregman scored after Ian Happ followed his at-bat with a double.
Pittsburgh’s Nick Gonzales, who also had two hits, kickstarted a three-run fifth with an RBI single after Reynolds doubled again.
Frustration boiled over in the ninth when Cubs manager Craig Counsell was ejected for arguing a check-swing third strike call on Kevin Alcantara after Chicago’s first two runners reached.
