Chicago Cubs' Dansby Swanson, left, scores past Pittsburgh Pirates catcher Joey Bart during the seventh inning of a baseball game, in Chicago, Sunday, April 12, 2026. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)

CHICAGO (AP) — Michael Busch ended an 0-for-30 slide with a tying, two-run single in the eighth inning and Carson Kelly had a winning single in the ninth as the Chicago Cubs overcame a five-run deficit to beat the Pittsburgh Pirates 7-6 on Sunday.

Brandon Lowe hit a grand slam and a solo homer off Jameson Taillon, and Oneil Cruz homered leading off the game for Pittsburgh, which led 5-0 before third-inning solo homers by Dansby Swanson and Moisés Ballesteros against Bubba Chandler.

Lowe’s fifth-inning homer boosted Pittsburgh’s lead to 6-2 but Chicago closed on Alex Bregman’s sacrifice fly in the bottom half. Swanson scored from third in the seventh on an infield fly by Bregman as Lowe, the second baseman, fell while catching the ball in short right field.

Busch, benched from the starting lineup, pinch hit for Matt Shaw with two outs in the eighth after a pair of walks by Justin Lawrence and looped an opposite-field single into short left that tied the score 6-6.

Pinch-hitter Michael Conforto doubled off Jose Urquidy (0-1) leading off the ninth and, with the bases loaded and one out, Kelly hit a 381-foot drive that landed on the right-center warning track.

Daniel Palencia (1-0) pitched around a walk in the ninth.

Chicago had been 0 for 7 with runners in scoring position before Busch’s single after going 1 of 23 in the previous two losses to Pittsburgh.

Taillon struck out 10, allowing six runs, six hits and two walks in six innings.

Lowe had his second multi-homer game this season.

Chicago placed reliever Hunter Henry on the 15-day injured list, retroactive to Thursday, with right triceps inflammation, and he became the eighth Cubs pitcher on the IL. Chicago selected the contract of left-hander Charlie Barnes from Triple-A Iowa. He has not appeared in a major league game since 2021.

Up next

Pirates: RHP Paul Skenes (2-1, 5.25) will be on the mound Monday at Pittsburgh, opposed by Washington RHP Cade Cavalli (0-0, 2.51).

Cubs: RHP Javier Assad (1-0, 0.00 ERA) starts Monday at Philadelphia, which starts Cristopher Sánchez (1-1, 1.65).

SATURDAY

Ramírez escapes bases-loaded jams in 10th, 11th innings, NL Central-leading Pirates beat Cubs 4-3

CHICAGO (AP) — Yohan Ramírez escaped bases-loaded jams in the 10th and 11th innings, and the Pittsburgh Pirates took advantage of a throwing error by Caleb Thielbar to score the go-ahead run in a 4-3 win over the Chicago Cubs on Saturday that clinched the three-game series.

Alex Bregman’s RBI single with two outs in the ninth inning on an 0-2 pitch off Dennis Santana tied the score 3-3 but the NL Central-leading Pirates (9-5) rebounded and won for the eighth time in 10 games, improving to 2-0 this season in series against division rivals.

Oneil Cruz was 4 for 5 with a double, becoming the first Pittsburgh player with at least four hits and three stolen bases in a game since Matt Lawton on July 26, 2005, and Nick Yorke had three hits.

Chicago stranded 16 runners and went 1 for 15 with runners in scoring position. Michael Busch went 0 for 3 and is hitless in 30 at-bats.

Pittsburgh went ahead in the 11th when Brandon Lowe hit a two-out grounder to Thielbar (1-2), who bounced his throw to the infield side of first, and the ball bounced off Matt Shaw’s mitt for an error that allowed Mitt Gonzales to score from second. Lowe was credited with an infield single.

Ramírez got out of the 10th when Dansby Swanson grounded out. Then in the 11th, Ramírez threw wildly past first on Nico Hoerner’s leadoff comebacker for an error that advanced Swanson, the automatic runner, to third as Hoerner took second.

Matt Shaw flied out to medium right field, Bregman fouled out and an intentional walk to Ian Happ loaded the bases. Seiya Suzuki got ahead 3-0 in the count, tool a called strike and then fouled out.

Pirates starter Braxton Ashcraft struck out a career-best nine in five innings while allowing a run on Hoerner’s fifth-inning RBI groundout, which cut the Cubs’ deficit to 3-1.

Cubs starter Edward Cabrera gave up three runs, eight hits and three walks in five innings.