Restructured Pirates lineup finds a way to defeat Cubs

Colin Moran was on the injured list with a groin injury. Bryan Reynolds was in the dugout, nursing some lower-body soreness.

Wilmer Difo was in centerfield for only the second time this season, and Ka’ai Tom was batting third.

Most unfortunately, Troy and Lawanya Stokes were in a taxi cab in downtown Chicago while Troy Jr. was making a sliding catch and trying not to run into a wall along the right-field line at Wrigley Field.

Somehow, it all added up to the Pittsburgh Pirates’ 6-5 Mother’s Day victory against the Chicago Cubs. It was only their second in the past 10 games, but that wasn’t the only reason it felt good.

“We had some guys who stepped up today,” manager Derek Shelton said.

Injuries forced Shelton to shake up his lineup and put several players in unfamiliar positions.

None as striking as that of Troy Stokes Jr., who made his major league debut after six seasons in the minors.

With Moran, Reynolds and right fielder Gregory Polanco unavailable, Stokes got the call Saturday while he and his Indianapolis teammates were in Iowa.

Stokes was told he would be on the taxi squad, but when he arrived at Wrigley, Shelton said, “Do you want to be a big-leaguer?”

“Of course, I said, ‘Yeah,’ ” he said.

Thrust into the right field and batting eighth, he was part of the Pirates’ four-run fourth inning when he was safe at first on shortstop Idlemaro Vargas’ throwing error. That allowed the Pirates’ fourth run to score.

Later, he made a sliding catch near the side wall to help starter and winner Tyler Anderson (3-3) retire the final 13 batters he faced in an eight-inning gem.

“I knew it was going to be close,” Stokes said of the catch. “Took off. Peeked at the wall. Peeked at the ball. Peeked at the wall again. I said, ‘All right, I can catch this.’ I didn’t want to run smack into the wall. I knew I had a little bit of room to make the play.”

But his parents, who hurriedly found a Baltimore-to-Chicago flight when Troy called with the news, were making the 30-minute trip from the airport when the ball landed in their son’s glove.

They didn’t arrive at Wrigley Field until late in the game, but Stokes said they didn’t mind. In any event, he said it was “a pretty sweet” Mother’s Day gift for Lawanya.

“They would have got here to see five minutes of it,” he said.

As it turned out, Stokes and reserve players Difo and Todd Frazier made big contributions.

Difo had two singles, a triple, three RBIs and scored twice. Frazier, who was 1 for 31 before the game, contributed two singles while filling in for Moran at first base.

Shelton said those are the contributions the Pirates need in this period of dire circumstances.

“It’s not just 1 to 26,” he said of the 26-man roster. “I think we’re seeing organizationally, with the injuries we’ve had and calling people up, it’s not just the guys at the major league level, but the guys in development.

“It’s kind of cool to tell people they’re making their major league debut and see them contribute like Stokes-y did. It’s what we have to do in the Pirates’ organization.”

Good pitching helps, too.

Anderson’s eight inning, 102-pitch outing was the longest by a Pirates pitcher this season. He struck out six, walked one and allowed only four hits while lowering his ERA to 3.05.

The ninth was full of high drama, with relief pitchers Kyle Crick and Rich Rodriguez allowing three runs.

Crick hit Anthony Rizzo with a pitch, walked Kris Bryant and allowed his first two runs of the season. Rodriguez had retired 28 consecutive batters until Joc Pederson singled and Vargas doubled. But he earned his sixth save by getting pinch hitter Javier Baez to ground out with the potential tying run on second base.

Anderson, though, was the story.

“I thought he executed the fastball,” Shelton said. “He went up with it (in the strike zone), probably the best command we’ve seen him have. When he needed to go to secondary stuff, especially the changeup, he did it to keep them off balance.”

In a little more than a month with the Pirates and less than two years removed from major knee surgery, he’s turned into their best starting pitcher.

“Just to be healthy, super thankful for it,” he said.