Seiya Suzuki's 2 homers lift Cubs to 2-1 win over Pirates

PITTSBURGH (AP) — Seiya Suzuki homered twice, Drew Smyly pitched five scoreless innings and the Chicago Cubs beat Pittsburgh 2-1 on Tuesday, spoiling the Pirates’ home opener.

Suzuki connected for leadoff shots in the fifth and seventh. One of the top players in Japan, Suzuki signed an $85 million, five-year contract with the Cubs last month.

Smyly (1-0) permitted three hits and walked none in his Cubs debut. The left-hander agreed to a one-year contract last month.

Smyly also signed a $10 million, two-year contract with the Cubs in December 2017, but he never pitched for Chicago. Working his way back from Tommy John surgery, he ran out of time to get into a big league game in 2018 and was traded to Texas that November.

The Pirates got their only run on Bryan Reynolds’ homer against Mychal Givens in the eighth.

David Robertson worked a perfect ninth for his second save.

José Quintana (0-1) made his first appearance for Pittsburgh, pitching five effective innings against one of his former teams. The veteran lefty joined the Pirates as a free agent in November after posting a 6.43 ERA in an injury-plagued 2021 season with the Los Angeles Angels and San Francisco.

Suzuki drove a full-count pitch from Quintana deep to right-center in the fifth. He connected against Anthony Banda in the seventh for his third homer in his fourth major league game.

Suzuki has reached base at least twice, scored a run and driven in a run in each game. The last Cubs player to start the season with a longer streak was Mark Grudzielanek with five in 2003.

Smyly induced a career-high 11 groundball outs.

Ian Happ had two hits for Chicago. He is 7 for 10 in three games so far this season.

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source https://www.chron.com/sports/article/Suzuki-s-two-home-runs-lift-Cubs-to-2-1-win-over-17076588.php