The Pittsburgh Pirates secured a 2-0 victory over the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field on Friday, breaking through after six no-hit innings from Shota Imanaga. Bryan Reynolds hit a two-run homer in the seventh to provide all the offense, while a bizarre ABS challenge kept Nick Gonzales' at-bat alive. Carmen Mlodzinski delivered 5 1/3 scoreless innings on the mound.
Pittsburgh struggled early against Cubs starter Shota Imanaga, who held them hitless through six innings with nine strikeouts and just one walk to Oneil Cruz. The Pirates fouled off 31 of his pitches, pushing him to 100 pitches before his departure. 'When somebody is just kinda cutting through your lineup, it’s nice to get him out,' left fielder Bryan Reynolds said. 'It’s almost like you’ve got a second wind.'