Polanco's pair of HRs help Pirates top Cubs, 6-1

[April 13, 2018]  Gregory Polanco hit a pair of solo homers as the Pittsburgh Pirates beat the Chicago Cubs 6-1 Thursday afternoon at Wrigley Field.

Polanco homered in the first inning off Kyle Hendricks (0-1) and in the seventh off left-hander Justin Wilson. Polanco, who did not hit his first homer until May 11 last season, recorded his third career multi-homer game.

Polanco also increased his major league-leading RBI total to 15, which is 20 shy of his total in 108 games last season.

Francisco Cervelli hit a three-run shot and Adam Frazier also homered as Pittsburgh (9-3) improved to 5-1 on the road. The Pirates are also off their best start since opening 1992 with 10 wins in 12 games.

Trevor Williams (3-0) became the first three-game winner in the National League by allowing one run and two of his four hits to Kyle Schwarber in six effective innings.

He joined Cleveland's Carlos Carrasco as the second three-game winner in the majors.

The right-hander struck out five, walked one and lowered his ERA to 1.56. He threw 60 of 94 pitches for strikes and held the Cubs hitless in six at-bats with runners in scoring position.

Schwarber homered and had three hits for Chicago, which totaled 10 extra base hits in Wednesday's 13-5 win but went 0-for-7 with runners in scoring position in the series finale.

Hendricks allowed two runs and five hits in six innings, with seven strikeouts and three walks.

Cubs pitcher Yu Darvish (11) takes part in a warm up prior to his team's baseball game against the Pittsburgh Pirates at Wrigley Field. Mandatory Credit: Jim Young-USA TODAY Sports

The Pirates took a 1-0 lead when Polanco lifted a 1-0 fastball 440 feet into the right-center field bleachers for his first hit of the series.

Schwarber tied it by driving a full-count sinker into the right field bleachers with two outs in the fourth.

Pittsburgh regained the lead when Frazier hit a 3-1 sinker into the wind and into the left-center field bleachers in the fifth inning. Polanco hit his second homer when he drove a 3-1 fastball into the left-center field seats in the seventh.

It was Polanco's first homer off a left-handed pitcher since Aug. 23, 2016, against Houston's Tony Sipp.

After Wilson issued consecutive walks, Cervelli slammed a 2-1 fastball into the left-center field seats for a 6-1 lead.

--Field Level Media

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