CHICAGO (AP) — Michael Busch ended an 0-for-30 slide with a tying, two-run single in the eighth inning and Carson Kelly had a winning single in the ninth as the Chicago Cubs overcame a five-run deficit to beat the Pittsburgh Pirates 7-6 on Sunday.

Brandon Lowe hit a grand slam and a solo homer off Jameson Taillon, and Oneil Cruz homered leading off the game for Pittsburgh, which led 5-0 before third-inning solo homers by Dansby Swanson and Moises Ballesteros against Bubba Chandler.

Lowe’s fifth-inning homer boosted Pittsburgh’s lead to 6-2 but Chicago closed on Alex Bregman’s sacrifice fly in the bottom half. Swanson scored from third in the seventh on an infield fly by Bregman as Lowe, the second baseman, fell while catching the ball in short right field.

Busch, benched from the starting lineup, pinch hit for Matt Shaw with two outs in the eighth after a pair of walks by Justin Lawrence and looped an opposite-field single into short left that tied the score 6-6.

Pinch-hitter Michael Conforto doubled off Jose Urquidy (0-1) leading off the ninth and, with the bases loaded and one out, Kelly hit a 381-foot drive that landed on the right-center warning track.

Daniel Palencia (1-0) pitched around a walk in the ninth.

Chicago had been 0 for 7 with runners in scoring position before Busch’s single after going 1 of 23 in the previous two losses to Pittsburgh.

Taillon struck out 10, allowing six runs, six hits and two walks in six innings.

Lowe had his second multi-homer game this season.

Chicago placed reliever Hunter Henry on the 15-day injured list, retroactive to Thursday, with right triceps inflammation, and he became the eighth Cubs pitcher on the IL. Chicago selected the contract of left-hander Charlie Barnes from Triple-A Iowa. He has not appeared in a major league game since 2021.

Up next

Pirates: RHP Paul Skenes (2-1, 5.25) will be on the mound Monday at Pittsburgh, opposed by Washington RHP Cade Cavalli (0-0, 2.51).

Rangers 5, Dodgers 2

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Shohei Ohtani connected off Jacob deGrom for his second straight leadoff home run, but the Texas Rangers rallied to beat the Los Angeles Dodgers 5-2 Sunday and avoid a three-game sweep.

Evan Carter hit a tying home run off Roki Sasaki (0-2) and Brandon Nimmo drove in two runs for the Rangers.

Sasaki allowed two runs, five hits and five walks over four innings while striking out a career-high six, lowering his ERA to 6.23.

Ohtani extended his on-base streak to 46 games, fifth-longest in Dodgers history behind Duke Snider (58), Shawn Green (53), Willie Keeler (50) and Ron Cey (47).

Ohtani pulled the first pitch from deGrom (1-0), a 97.9 mph fastball, to right-center for his 26th leadoff homer and fifth home run this season. That was the only run allowed in six innings by deGrom, who gave up four hits, struck out nine and walked three. He beat the Dodgers for just the second time in 13 regular-season starts.

Jakob Junis pitched a hitless ninth for this third save.

Carter’s homer and Josh Smith’s RBI single put the Rangers ahead for good at 2-1 in the third.

Nimmo hit a run-scoring grounder in the sixth, and Kyle Tucker pulled Los Angeles to 3-2 with an RBI single off Jacob Latz in the seventh.

Nimmo added an RBI single in the eighth against Will Klein, who also threw a run-scoring wild pitch.

Texas catcher Danny Jansen was successful in four of five ABS challenges to overturn calls by plate umpire Charlie Ramos.

Athletics 1, Mets 0

NEW YORK (AP) — Nick Kurtz hit his first home run this season, sending the Athletics to a 1-0 victory Sunday and a three-game sweep of the slumping New York Mets.

Aaron Civale (2-0) allowed four hits in 5 2/3 innings as the Athletics won their fifth straight. They swept the Mets for the first time, immediately after winning a series against the Yankees in New York for the first time since 2016.

The Mets also were shut out in Friday night’s series opener. With slugger Juan Soto on the injured list, they’ve scored nine runs during a five-game skid — all at home.

Kurtz, who had 36 homers last season and was the AL Rookie of the Year, launched a 363-foot shot to right field off Freddy Peralta (1-1) in the third inning.

That ended a drought of 48 at-bats, the longest for Kurtz since he went 58 at-bats without a longball immediately following his four-homer game against Houston last July 25.

Jeff McNeil doubled in the fourth and finished the series 6 for 13 against his former team in his first trip to Citi Field since the Mets traded him to the Athletics in December.

Elvis Alvarado got Francisco Lindor to ground out with a runner on first to end the eighth. Joel Kuhnel earned his second save with a perfect ninth on four pitches, prompting a chorus of boos from the Citi Field crowd.

Peralta took the loss despite going six innings for the first time this season. He permitted four hits and three walks with six strikeouts.

The Mets and Yankees have both lost on five consecutive days for the first time, according to Sportradar.

Up next

The Athletics return home Monday, when RHP Luis Severino (0-1, 4.50 ERA) opposes Texas RHP Nathan Eovaldi (1-2, 7.98) in the opener of a four-game series.

The Mets begin a six-game trip Monday, when LHP David Peterson (0-2, 6.14 ERA) faces LHP Justin Wrobleski (1-0, 4.00) and the Los Angeles Dodgers.