Pirates hold off Cubs in series opener

Jared Jones recorded a quality start and the Pittsburgh Pirates held off a late rally to beat the host Chicago Cubs 5-4 on Thursday night in the opener of a four-game series.

Pittsburgh looked to be in control of the game when Yasmani Grandal pushed its lead to 5-3 with a sacrifice fly in the top of the sixth.

Jones retired the Cubs in order in the home half of the inning to cap his outing, and Aroldis Chapman followed suit with a 1-2-3 seventh. Colin Holderman then came on for the eighth, and that's when things nearly got out of hand.

Holderman beaned Seiya Suzuki with his first pitch, then Cody Bellinger reached on a two-base error to put runners at second and third with no outs. Christopher Morel followed with a sacrifice fly, pulling Chicago within 5-4.

With the tying run on second, Holderman struck out Ian Happ and later got Nick Madrigal to ground out to end the inning.

David Bednar worked a perfect ninth for his ninth save.

In his six innings, Jones (3-4) gave up three runs on seven hits. He didn't issue a walk and struck out seven.

Edward Olivares went 2-for-4 with a two-run homer and two runs for the Pirates, who snapped a modest two-game skid.

Cubs starter Justin Steele (0-1) was tagged for five runs and six hits in 5 2/3 innings. Steele walked one and fanned seven.

No player had more than one hit for Chicago, which has dropped three of its past four games.

Pittsburgh drew first blood, as Olivares clubbed his homer in the first inning. Happ halved the Cubs' deficit with a solo home run in the second.

The Pirates restored their two-run lead when Nick Gonzales sent a ball over the left-center-field wall in the fourth to make it 3-1. It didn't take long for the Cubs to get that run back, though, with Madrigal smacking an RBI single in the home half of the inning.

Michael A. Taylor opened the Pittsburgh fifth with a double, advanced to third on Alika Williams' sacrifice bunt and scored on Bryan Reynolds' two-out double.

--Field Level Media