Chicago rolled into this series white-hot, having taken the first two games by a combined 14-2 margin, including an 11-0 no-doubter behind Shota Imanaga on Saturday. Pittsburgh had dropped 3 straight before Sunday and needed a response in the worst way to avoid the sweep.
The Pirates' lineup had gone ice-cold across the first two losses of this series, managing all of 2 runs combined, so any life at the plate on Sunday was a meaningful sign for a club trying to stay in the wild-card mix. Chicago, meanwhile, has been mashing the ball in Pittsburgh all weekend and came in with the deeper, healthier roster on paper.
Both bullpens are banged up in different ways — Chicago is without Daniel Palencia, Phil Maton and a handful of relief arms on the IL, while Pittsburgh is missing catcher depth and a couple of relievers of its own. That thinner margin for error showed up in a game that saw both offenses find their footing.
This one had the shape of a laugher through 3 innings, with Pittsburgh building a 7-1 lead by the end of the second before Chicago clawed all the way back and even had a shot in the ninth. The Pirates held on 8-7 to salvage the finale and avoid the sweep, snapping their own mini-slide in the process. It's the kind of back-and-forth game that reminds you series sweeps in this league are never as automatic as a 14-2 head start makes them look.