PITTSBURGH -- The Cubs began Friday night's game with a wacky first inning and ended it with a wild ninth, rallying for six runs to swat down the Pirates' comeback and secure a 9-5 series-opening win at PNC Park.
Trailing by one run after eight innings, Jason Heyward and Willson Contreras tied the game with back-to-back doubles off Juan Nicasio -- the right-handed half of the Pirates' late-innings bullpen platoon. Tommy La Stella singled to left, and the Pirates elected to intentionally walk Kris Bryant. In came former closer Tony Watson, recently demoted to lower-leverage work, with the bases loaded and nobody out in the ninth.