Cubs down Pirates 1-0 on solo homer for second straight night

[August 18, 2018]  Kyle Schwarber hit a solo home run and Cole Hamels pitched seven scoreless innings Friday as the visiting Chicago Cubs won their third game in a row, 1-0 over the Pittsburgh Pirates at PNC Park.

It is the second straight night the Cubs beat the Pirates 1-0 on a home run, Ian Happ providing the pop on Thursday.

Relievers Brandon Kintzler, Jorge De La Rosa, Steve Cishek and Jesse Chavez combined with Hamels on the seven-hit shutout, with Chavez picking up his second save. The Cubs had a six-hit shutout Thursday.

Pittsburgh tied a club record by hitting into seven double plays, including David Freese's second of the night to end the game.

The Cubs moved to a season-high 21 games over .500 at 71-50.

The Pirates have lost five straight and dipped below .500, at 61-62, for the first time since July 15. They also fell 11 games behind the first-place Cubs in the National League Central and 6 1/2 games out of the second wild-card spot.

Hamels (8-9), in his fourth start since being acquired by the Cubs, gave up five hits with three strikeouts and two walks. It was his second win over Pittsburgh among those four starts. He has allowed two earned runs in 25 innings with Chicago.

He also had one of Chicago's six hits, a leadoff single in the fifth.

Cubs starting pitcher Cole Hamels (35) delivers a pitch against the Pittsburgh Pirates during the first inning at PNC Park. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports

Pirates starter Trevor Williams (10-9) had a tough-luck outing. He gave up only the solo home run among four hits in seven innings, with four strikeouts and two walks. He has given up three runs over 36 innings in his past six starts.

The Pirates had runners in every inning but the fifth but had no extra-base hits.

With two outs in the second, Schwarber pounced on an elevated pitch and sent it inside the foul pole in right for his 21st homer and a 1-0 Cubs lead.

The start of the game was delayed 1 hour, 47 minutes by rain.

--Field Level Media

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