Pirates cruise past Cubs for 3rd consecutive win

If Derek Shelton couldn’t single out one Pittsburgh Pirates player as a key against the Chicago Cubs, it’s because six players got hits and scored runs.

Sparked by solo home runs from Michael Perez and Bligh Madris — who hit the first of his career — and two RBIs from designated hitter Daniel Vogelbach, the Pirates did damage early in a 7-1 win Tuesday night before an announced crowd of 11,254 at PNC Park.

“We got offense top to bottom, which is important,” Shelton said. “The bottom of our order produced runs. … Overall, just a really well-played baseball game.”

It was the third consecutive win for the Pirates, tying their season-best winning streak. Since ending a season-worst nine-game losing streak, the Pirates have won four of their past six games. Right-hander Jerad Eickhoff is expected to start against the Cubs on Wednesday night, which will require a roster move.

“However you look at it, winning in the big leagues is very hard. And winning in the big leagues is very fun. We went on a stretch there where some people could say we were playing bad baseball because we weren’t winning,” Vogelbach said. “That goes back to the hits thing, where someone can say your swing’s not there because you’re not getting hits. But, in reality, I don’t think we were playing that bad of baseball. We had a couple balls that just didn’t bounce our way.”

Vogelbach speaks from personal experience. After he returned from the injured list following a hamstring injury, Shelton thought Vogelbach tried to swing his way into good at-bats but instead endured a 16-game stretch where he slashed .160/.250/.300. Against the Cubs, Vogelbach reached base four times, sandwiching a pair of walks around a single and a double that both drove in runs.

“When I feel I’m at my best is when I’m walking and I’m hitting at the same time because I’m a believer that walking is hitting,” Vogelbach said. “Sometimes, you can’t control whether they throw you strikes. All you can control is when they throw it over the plate, you’ve got to hit it hard.”

The Pirates hit Cubs starter Matt Swarmer (1-3) hard from the start. Ke’Bryan Hayes hit a leadoff triple to left-center and scored on a sacrifice fly to right by Bryan Reynolds to give the Pirates a 1-0 lead in the top of the first inning.

Perez increased the Pirates’ lead to 2-0 when he sent Swarmer’s 1-0 slider 399 feet to right-center for a solo home run, his third of the season and first since May 9.

The Pirates added three more runs in the third, when Vogelbach singled to score Reynolds from second and Oneil Cruz followed by connecting on a full-count slider for a 111.8-mph single to drive in Jack Suwinski.

Cruz then recorded his first career stolen base, on which Cubs catcher Willson Contreras made an errant throw to second that allowed Vogelbach to score from third for 5-0 Pirates lead.

Patrick Wisdom crushed a Roansy Contreras 2-2 fastball for his 13th home run, a 461-foot shot that landed in the Pirates’ bullpen in left-center and cut the Cubs’ deficit to 5-1.

It marked the first earned run allowed by Roansy Contreras over 19 ⅔ innings in five starts at PNC Park, the second-longest streak to start a career by a Pirates pitcher since Hal Smith went 25 ⅓ innings in 1933 at Forbes Field. Contreras allowed four hits and two walks in five innings.

“That’s something that’s expected,” Contreras said through team translator Mike Gonzalez. “There’s going to be times where you go out there and the other team’s going to be able to see your pitches better, hit the ball a lot harder. It’s baseball. It’s things that are going to happen. That’s something that’s not going to shift my mindset from the mission. We’re going to continue to battle and we’re going to continue to find a way to beat these guys. Whatever team it is, that’s the focus.”

Shelton was more impressed with how Contreras handled himself, relying on his fastball after a 32-pitch first inning when his breaking pitches that weren’t sharp. Contreras finished with three strikeouts while throwing 60 of his 92 pitches for strikes.

“He was still able to give us five innings and give us the ability to win the game,” Shelton said. “For a 22-year-old, it’s only going to move upward from there.”

The Cubs pulled Swarmer after he threw 90 pitches in four innings, allowing five runs (four earned) on five hits, two walks and a wild pitch while striking out five. Lefty Brandon Hughes gave up a one-out walk to Suwinski before surrendering a run-scoring double off the center field wall to Vogelbach to make it 6-1.

After going 3 for 4 with a two-run single and a double in his major league debut Monday, Madris hit a 394-foot solo shot off Mark Leiter Jr. for his first career home run for a 7-1 lead in the sixth. Madris became the fifth Pirates player to hit his first career homer this season, joining Diego Castillo, Suwinski, Tucupita Marcano and Cal Mitchell.

Madris described the emotion of his first homer as a “sense of relief.”

“It’s just amazing. Dream come true. And for it to happen today after yesterday it’s just truly special,” Madris said. “I tried to hold my emotion in, but that first one’s a little different. Gave a little fist pump. I don’t know, it was truly just amazing.”