O’Hearn hits grand slam on his birthday to lead Pirates past Cubs
O\\\'Hearn homers on his birthday to lead Pirates past Cubs
PITTSBURGH – Ryan O’Hearn hit a grand slam on his 33rd birthday, and the Pittsburgh Pirates held off the Chicago Cubs 8-7 on Sunday to avoid being swept in the three-game series.
The Cubs nearly erased a six-run deficit. Seiya Suzuki hit a two-run home run with one out in the ninth inning to make it a one-run game, but Mason Montgomery held on for his second save.
O’Hearn’s blast to center field in the third inning extended the Pirates’ lead to 7-1. That came an inning after a pair of rookies homered, with Esmerlyn Valdez hitting a leadoff shot and Shawn Ross hitting a two-run blast for his first career home run.
It was the fourth career grand slam for O’Hearn and second this season. His 17 home runs match the nine-year veteran’s career high.
Valdez has 14 home runs in just 37 games. Ross, a catcher, was making his first career start after being called up from Triple-A Indianapolis on Friday.
All three home runs came off Jameson Taillon (2-6), who has given up 25 longballs in just 76 innings this season. Taillon lasted four innings, was charged with seven runs on six hits and is winless in his last nine starts.
Braxton Ashcraft (10-4) pitched six innings and allowed four runs on seven hits and two walks while striking out five.
Brandon Lowe had three of the Pirates’ 11 hits while Valdez and Nick Gonzales had two each. The Cubs got two hits apiece from Michael Busch, Nico Hoerner, rookie Pedro Ramirez and Dansby Swanson.
Prior to Sunday’s games the Pirates announced that they signed their 2026 first-round draft pick Derek Curiel.
Curiel, a 21-year-old center fielder from LSU, was selected fifth overall. He signed for a $6.2 million bonus, which was $2.1 million under slot value. The Pirates can use the money they saved on Curiel to offer other draft picks over-slot bonuses.
Curiel hit .353 with 18 doubles, two triples, six homers and 46 RBI at LSU in the spring.
Up next
Cubs: Open a four-game series in St. Louis on Monday night with LHP David Peterson (5-7, 5.97 ERA) starting.
Pirates: RHP Mitch Keller (6-7, 4.90) pitches against Diamondbacks RHP Merrill Kelly (8-8, 5.12) on Monday night in the opener of a three-game home series.