Cubs play Pirates with 2-1 series lead
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Cubs, Imanaga
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Those fans thirsting for the Chicago Cubs team that slugged its way to wins earlier in the season have had to settle for low-scoring nail-biters lately.
CHICAGO (AP) — Ian Happ hit a game-ending single in the 10th inning, and the Chicago Cubs edged the Pittsburgh Pirates 3-2 on Sunday.
Although the offense has cooled, the first-place Cubs gained ground in the NL Central during a challenging part of the schedule.
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SB Nation on MSNCubs 3, Pirates 2: Ian Happ walks it offBut the Cubs came right back with a pair of runs of their own in the bottom of the inning. Happ led off with a walk and stole second. He took third on a ground out by Pete Crow-Armstrong, and another ground out by Seiya Suzuki made it 2-1 Pirates [VIDEO].
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Matthew Boyd’s pickoffs as good as his pitching, another reason he’s a difference-maker for Cubs
Boyd, who improved to 6-3 and lowered his ERA to 2.79 with a great performance Saturday, caught Pirates outfielder Tommy Pham off first base for his major-league-leading sixth pickoff, erasing a walk that stood as the only baserunner he allowed after a home run in the first inning.
Chicago Cubs fans have to be excited for the success that their long-time right-handed pitcher is finding recently.
Locked into another pitchers' duel, the Cubs finally created their opportunity in the 10th, pulling off a double steal to put the winning run 90 feet away with nobody out. David Bednar struck out Jon Berti and got ahead of Ian Happ with two splitters, but the third splitter was lined to right for a walk-off single.
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Among those in attendance was 67-year-old prostate cancer survivor Clark Atwater, who threw out the ceremonial first pitch.
The Chicago Cubs have looked like one of the best teams in baseball, firing on all cylinders. Cubs pitchers rank No. 10 in baseball with a 3.69 ERA and the offense is ranked No. 2 in MLB with a 117 wRC+ (all stats through 60 games.