Quintana, Rizzo lead Cubs past Pirates in Little League Classic
WILLIAMSPORT, Pa. - Jose Quintana pitched 7 crisp innings, Anthony Rizzo hit a 2-run homer and the Chicago Cubs defeated the Pittsburgh Pirates 7-1 on Sunday night in the MLB Little League Classic.
Nicholas Castellanos and Jason Heyward also connected as the Cubs earned their second straight win since consecutive heartbreaking losses to the Phillies and Pirates.
The Cubs took two of three in the unusual weekend set and remain in a virtual tie with St. Louis for the top spot in the NL Central. It was the first road series win for the Cubs since May 17-19 against Washington.
Starling Marte had 3 hits for Pittsburgh, including his 21st homer in the ninth against Craig Kimbrel.
With grinning Little Leaguers dressed in their uniforms filling the stands BB&T Ballpark, Quintana (11-7) allowed 5 hits, struck out seven and walked none. The left-hander improved to 7-0 in 9 starts since his last loss June 22.
Castellanos went deep in the first inning against Mitch Keller (1-2), and Heyward added another solo shot in the third. It was Castellanos' sixth homer since coming over in a July 31 trade with Detroit.
The Cubs added 2 more runs in the fourth on Kyle Schwarber's 2-run single, and then put it away with 3 in the fifth.
Kris Bryant chased Keller with a run-scoring double, and Rizzo made it 7-0 when he greeted Chris Stratton with a drive off the scoreboard in left-center for his 23rd homer.
Last-place Pittsburgh dropped to 7-27 since the all-star break. Keller was charged with 6 runs and 7 hits in 4⅓ innings.
Kimbrel, who was activated from the 10-injured list before the game, got the first two outs in the ninth in his first game since Aug. 3. He gave up Marte's homer and hit Cole Tucker before striking out two.
Cubs manager Joe Maddon grew up in Hazelton, about 70 miles east of Williamsport.
"Getting off the plane and seeing how excited the kids were was really special," he said. "Even the team from Valenzuela, they didn't speak a whole lot of English, none really, but they wanted to engage."
Following an off-day, Cubs left-hander Cole Hamels (6-4, 3.69 ERA) starts Tuesday against San Francisco after allowing a season-high 8 runs last Wednesday at Philadelphia.