CHICAGO (AP) — Jon Lester gamely held up his glove, asking home plate umpire Adrian Johnson for another baseball. The symbol of hope belied reality, because he raised his glove before Andrew McCutchen’s home run had landed in the center field bleachers. He would not throw another pitch.
Somehow, Lester survived the nine runs he allowed to the first 11 batters he faced Sunday afternoon. Somehow, he stayed in the game after Francisco Cervelli’s grand slam, on his 51st pitch of the first inning. McCutchen’s home run, the 10th Pirates run in the first inning of their 14-3 victory against the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field, finally brought manager Joe Maddon out of the dugout.
The Pirates took two of three games from the Cubs and went 5-2 on the road trip that ended the season’s first half. They entered the All-Star break at 42-47. They scored 10 runs in the first inning for the first time since June 8, 1989, the day Jim Rooker said he would walk home from Veterans Stadium in Philadelphia if the Pirates blew the lead. They did, and later, he did.
Lester (5-6) failed to complete the first inning for the first time in 335 major league starts during his 12-year career. In two-thirds of an inning he allowed 10 runs, only four earned because of Kris Bryant’s error, and six hits, two of them homers. He walked three batters — they all scored — and struck out none. Of his 53 pitches, only 27 were strikes.
Lester’s day forced Maddon to use starters Mike Montgomery, who allowed seven runs in 2 innings during his Thursday start, and Eddie Butler, who pitched four innings against the Pirates in a start Friday.
Josh Harrison began the game with a single. Bryant made a good defensive play on Cervelli’s slow roller. Everything unspooled from here.
McCutchen walked. Bryant booted David Freese’s grounder. Josh Bell singled, bringing home one run.
Jose Osuna doubled to the corner in left field, driving in two runs. Jordy Mercer slipped a single through the left side, bringing home two more. Lester walked Max Moroff to bring up Chad Kuhl.
The fact that Kuhl was in the on-deck circle at all, let alone before he took the mound, was a surprise. The Pirates scratched scheduled starter Jameson Taillon because of flu-like symptoms, forcing Kuhl to start on two days’ rest. The early runs came on a good day.
“I’m really proud of the way they battled back when everybody got the news,” manager Clint Hurdle said. “ ‘Here we go, let’s see what we’ve got, let’s see what we can do.’ ”
Kuhl successfully sacrificed. Lester walked Harrison. When he reached a full count on Cervelli, he had thrown 50 pitches, 25 strikes and 25 balls. Cervelli put a cutter into the diagonal fencing above the left field wall for the third grand slam of his career.
“He’s healthy and he feels good,” Hurdle said. “He wanted to catch all three [games in the series], and we gave him the opportunity to do it, and he finished strong with it.”
Given the circumstances, Kuhl stepped up. He allowed one run in three innings. After consecutive walks to Jon Jay and Bryant to start the third, pitching coach Ray Searage visited the mound.
“Pitch to win,” Searage told Kuhl. “Stay aggressive.”
The next pitch, to Anthony Rizzo, induced a double play, and Kuhl struck out Ian Happ to end his outing.
“To get a breather and refocus is always nice,” Kuhl said. “Good time for a visit.”
