Pittsburgh Pirates vs Chicago Cubs Match Player Stats On Jul 07, 2017

The Sports Xchange
Jul 7, 2017

CHICAGO -- Kris Bryant homered twice, Anthony Rizzo added another and Ben Zobrist went 2-for-5 with an RBI single on Friday to lead the Chicago Cubs to a 6-1 victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates at Wrigley Field.

Bryant, who went 4-for-5, also tripled and collected four RBIs and scored three runs for the Cubs (43-43).

Cubs starter Eddie Butler received a no-decision in a four-plus inning effort in a sluggish game that took 3 hours, 46 minutes to complete.

Carl Edwards Jr. (3-1) struck out three, walked two and didn't allow a hit over 1 2/3 innings of relief to earn the victory.

Pirates starter Trevor Williams (3-4) took the loss in a 3 2/3-inning outing while Andrew McCutchen paced the Pirates (40-47) by going 3-for-4 and scoring a run.

Chicago broke a scoreless tie in the fourth inning when Zobrist singled to right-center with two out and scored on Bryant's triple into the left field corner.

Rizzo then clubbed his team-leading 20th home run of the year, sending Williams' 2-2 pitch into the right field bleachers for a 3-0 lead.

That spelled the end for the Pirates starter, who surrendered three earned runs on six hits while striking out three and walking a pair while tossing 98 pitches.

Butler departed in the top of the fifth after striking Josh Harrison with his second pitch of the inning. He gave up four hits, walked three and struck out one.

Kyle Schwarber collected a leadoff double -- his first hit since returning from Triple-A Iowa on Thursday -- to open the Cubs' fifth. Schwarber reached third on Jason Heyward's fielder's choice grounder but was tagged at home on Victor Caratini's infield grounder.

Bryant then launched a towering solo home run deep into the left field bleachers with two out in the sixth inning for a 4-0 Cubs lead.

The Pirates broke the shutout in the seventh as Josh Bell doubled home McCutchen with one out, trimming the Chicago lead to 4-1.

Bryant recorded his 10th career multi-homer game with two out in the eighth and brought home Willson Contreras for a 6-1 edge. The blast was Bryant's 18th homer of the season.

Both teams had plenty of baserunners but no runs through the first three innings, including loading the bases in the Pirates' first and the Cubs' second.

NOTES: Friday's series opener kicked off a 10-game run against NL Central Division opponents for the Pirates. ... Starling Marte went 0-for-3 in his third game on rehab at Triple-A Indianapolis on Thursday. He's serving an 80-game PED suspension and is eligible for reinstatement on July 18. ... The Pirates moved C Elias Diaz to Triple-A Indianapolis while calling up RHP A.J. Schugel. ... RHP Ivan Nova (8-6, 3.24 ERA) goes for Pittsburgh against Chicago RHP Jake Arrieta (8-6, 4.33 ERA) in Saturday's middle game. ... Cubs C Willson Contreras has 23 home runs since last year's major league debut and surpassed Cal Neenan (1957-58) for the most by a Cubs catcher in his first two seasons. ... Chicago recalled RHP Dylan Floro from Triple-A Iowa on Friday and optioned LHP Jack Leathersich to Triple-A. ... C Victor Caratini made his first start Wrigley Field and went 0-for-2 with a walk. He worked his first game behind the plate on June 30 at Cincinnati.