Those fans thirsting for the Cubs team that slugged its way to wins earlier in the season have had to settle for low-scoring nail-biters lately.<\/p>\n
But the Cubs were glad to be able to take three of four from the Pirates after hitting .189 (24 for 127) in the series.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou saw four or five balls today that would have been doubles or homers in other places,\u201d Happ said. \u201cYou have to find ways to win that baseball game.\u201d<\/p>\n
The bottom of the 10th saw the seldom-used Brujan pinch-run for Justin Turner as the ghost runner on second. Kyle Tucker, who was given the day off from starting, pinch-hit for Reese McGuire and was intentionally walked.<\/p>\n
While Happ got a lot of attention with the winning hit, he was quick to credit Brujan for leading a double steal to put runners on second and third with no outs and take the Cubs out of a potential double-play situation.<\/p>\n
\u201cHuge,\u201d Happ said of the steal. \u201cAnd it\u2019s not easy for Brujan to do that \u2014 to come in the game and have the confidence to take that bag in that spot.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was massive. I can\u2019t say enough about how tough that is for him to do that.\u201d<\/p>\n
Brujan said he spent most of the game trying to get ready in case he was called on.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s my routine and something I\u2019m used to,\u201d he said through an interpreter. \u201cI know it\u2019s difficult, but I try to keep my body moving throughout the game.<\/p>\n
\u201cI try to walk around or pace around. I try not to sit down for too long or let my body cool down. I just move around and when I get called in, I\u2019m ready to go in.\u201d<\/p>\n
Brujan, who had not played at all in the series until the pinch-running duty and has just 25 at-bats this season, was happy he could score the winning run and take part in the postgame merriment.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s super fun and I\u2019m super happy to be able to provide something for the team and we won,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s a step in the right direction going into this week.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"The](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/CTC-L-CUBS2.jpg\")
The Cubs’ Ian Happ, right, celebrates after his walk-off single with Nico Hoerner on Sunday, June 15, 2025, at Wrigley Field. (AP Photo\/David Banks)<\/p>\n
It was the Cubs\u2019 fourth walk-off win of the season and the second off Happ\u2019s bat. He singled to right on an 0-2 offering from reliever David Bednar (1-5).<\/p>\n
\u201cHe threw two really good pitches to start that at-bat,\u201d Happ said. \u201cThe first splitter was kind of straight down and the second one cut. I was looking for something up enough and that one was.\u201d<\/p>\n
After the first inning, it looked like a slugfest was in store.<\/p>\n
Pirates starter Mitch Keller hadn\u2019t won since picking up a victory in his season debut March 28 in Miami, losing nine games. He entered with the lowest run support in the majors with the Pirates scoring just 2.08 runs per game in his starts.<\/p>\n
They gave him two runs in the first, but he didn\u2019t hold the lead as Seiya Suzuki grounded out to drive in Happ and Dansby Swanson singled home Michael Busch in the bottom half.<\/p>\n
Suzuki broke a tie with Pete Crow-Armstrong for the team RBI lead with 58.<\/p>\n
That was all the scoring until the 10th.<\/p>\n
Cubs starter Colin Rea settled down after giving up the two first-inning runs and threw five shutout innings after that.<\/p>\n