Bell blasts three homers as Pirates pound Cubs

All-Star Josh Bell homered three times and drove in seven runs as the Pittsburgh Pirates pounded out 23 hits Monday and pummeled the visiting Chicago Cubs 18-5. Jung Ho Kang and Jose Osuna also homered, Adam Frazier had four doubles among his five hits, and Colin Moran also had five hits for Pittsburgh, which has won eight of 11.

Javier Baez homered for Chicago, which lost for the fifth time in seven games and fell out of first place in the National League Central. The Milwaukee Brewers, who beat the Cincinnati Reds 8-6, moved one game above Chicago. Pirates starter Trevor Williams (3-2) gave up five runs and nine hits in 5 2/3 innings, with four strikeouts and three walks. Chicago's Adbert Alzolay (1-1), in his second major league start and third appearance, allowed seven runs and 10 hits in 2 2/3 innings, with three strikeouts and one walk. Pittsburgh sent nine batters to the plate and scored four times in the first. Starling Marte's RBI single preceded Bell's three-run homer to right.

Baez led off the second with his 21st homer to close the gap to 4-1. In the bottom of the second, Bell's two-run homer made it 6-1. Moran increased the gap to 7-1 later in the inning with an RBI double. Chicago cut the deficit to 7-4 in the fourth. Victor Caratini had a two-run base hit, and pitcher Brad Brach got his first career RBI on his first career hit in his fourth all-time at-bat. Pittsburgh upped the lead to 10-4 in the bottom of the fourth on Williams' bases-loaded RBI single and Frazier's two-run double. The Pirates added two more in the fifth on Corey Dickerson's RBI double and Moran's run-scoring base hit.

In the sixth, Kris Bryant's RBI single for the Cubs made it 12-5. Bryan Reynolds drove in a run with a groundout in the bottom of the sixth. Kang ensured that every Pirates starter had a hit when he smacked his seventh homer, a two-run shot to left, in the bottom of the seventh for a 15-5 lead. Osuna hit his fourth pinch-hit homer of the season to lead off the eighth, and Bell added a two-run shot later in the inning, his 25th of the year.

 

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