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Bob Costas (voiceover):
On an unseasonably cool afternoon along the banks of the Allegheny, where the golden bridges gleam against the October sun, the Chicago Cubs and Pittsburgh Pirates played a game that reminded us why postseason baseball remains the most compelling theater in sports.
The final score at PNC Park — Cubs 7, Pirates 6 — only begins to tell the story.
Chicago, facing a raucous Pittsburgh crowd and a 1-0 deficit in the Division Series, showed both resilience and flair. The Cubs trailed 5-4 entering the eighth, but as so often happens in October, it wasn’t the superstar who changed the narrative — it was the role player.
Third baseman Israel Fernández, a postseason hero for last year's World Champion Indians, hitless to that point, stepped into the box with two men aboard and his team’s season teetering on the edge. One swing — a sharp triple into the right-field corner — cleared the bases and flipped the score, putting Chicago ahead for good. Fernández’s only hit of the day, but one that might echo all the way back to Wrigley Field.
Matt Croke, the 27-year-old shortstop who has become something of a quiet leader for the Pirates, was magnificent in a losing effort. Three hits, including a home run, two runs scored — and a reminder that postseason poise doesn’t always require postseason pedigree.
For the Pirates, it was a night of frustration wrapped in flashes of brilliance. Croke’s opposite number, V. Barros, came off the bench in the ninth and delivered a solo homer to keep hope alive, but it was too little, too late.
Pittsburgh starter Michael Orton pitched admirably through seven innings, but reliever Sung-min Kim, so reliable all season, faltered under the weight of the moment — surrendering four runs in the fateful eighth inning.
And so, the series shifts to Chicago tied at one game apiece. Game Three will be played Tuesday at Wrigley Field, a venue where ivy and autumn have long intertwined, where history seems to breathe between every pitch.
The Cubs — forever chasing ghosts, forever defined by hope — have given themselves a chance.
At PNC Park, under clear skies and with the wind carrying to left field, they found a way to win.
The scene now moves to the North Side, and as always in October, the question lingers:
Can the magic last?
Final score once again: Chicago Cubs 7, Pittsburgh Pirates 6.
From Pittsburgh — I’m Bob Costas.
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