CHICAGO (AP) — Dansby Swanson hit a tiebreaking sacrifice fly in the eighth inning, and the Chicago Cubs beat the Pittsburgh Pirates 4-3 on Sunday in the rubber game of the weekend series.
Pete Crow-Armstrong and Ian Happ each had two hits for Chicago, which had dropped four of five before a 3-1 victory Saturday.
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Pittsburgh Pirates pitcher Colin Holderman throws against the Chicago Cubs during the sixth inning of a baseball game, Sunday, Aug. 17, 2025, at Wrigley Field in Chicago. (AP Photo/Mark Black)
Pittsburgh Pirates pitcher Andrew Heaney throws against the Chicago Cubs during the fifth inning of a baseball game, Sunday, Aug. 17, 2025, at Wrigley Field in Chicago. (AP Photo/Mark Black)
Chicago Cubs pitcher Taylor Rogers throws against the Pittsburgh Pirates during the fifth inning of a baseball game, Sunday, Aug. 17, 2025, at Wrigley Field in Chicago. (AP Photo/Mark Black)
Chicago Cubs' Dansby Swanson, front right, celebrates after his RBI triple against the Pittsburgh Pirates during the fifth inning of a baseball game, Sunday, Aug. 17, 2025, at Wrigley Field in Chicago. (AP Photo/Mark Black)
Next up is a big five-game series against major league-leading Milwaukee, beginning with a split doubleheader Monday at Wrigley Field. The Cubs are eight games back of the Brewers in the NL Central.
Chicago had runners on second and third with one out in the eighth when Isaac Mattson (3-2) issued an intentional walk to Nico Hoerner. Swanson followed with a flyball to right, driving in Carson Kelly.
Caleb Thielbar (3-3) got one out for the win, and Andrew Kittredge pitched a 1-2-3 ninth for his first save.
Pittsburgh trailed 2-1 before Joey Bart lined a two-run double into the corner in left in the sixth. Ronny Simon's two-out single put runners on the corners, but Ben Brown escaped the jam when Spencer Horwitz bounced to second.
Chicago tied it at 3 on Carson Kelly's bloop single in the bottom half, driving in Seiya Suzuki. The Cubs had the bases loaded with two down, but Swanson flied to right for the final out of the inning.
The Pirates wasted a prime scoring opportunity in the eighth. Batting with a runner on third and one out, Bart struck out swinging against Brown. Isiah Kiner-Falefa then walked before Thielbar fanned Ronny Simon for the final out of the inning.
The Pirates went 3 for 13 with runners in scoring position and left 10 on base.
Pirates: RHP Paul Skenes (7-9, 2.13 ERA) starts Monday night in the opener of a three-game series against Toronto. RHP Kevin Gausman (8-9, 3.79 ERA) goes for the AL East leaders.
Cubs: RHP Cade Horton (7-3, 3.07 ERA) will start Game 1 on Monday. Manager Craig Counsell declined to announce his starter for the second game of the doubleheader.
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Pittsburgh Pirates pitcher Colin Holderman throws against the Chicago Cubs during the sixth inning of a baseball game, Sunday, Aug. 17, 2025, at Wrigley Field in Chicago. (AP Photo/Mark Black)
Pittsburgh Pirates pitcher Andrew Heaney throws against the Chicago Cubs during the fifth inning of a baseball game, Sunday, Aug. 17, 2025, at Wrigley Field in Chicago. (AP Photo/Mark Black)
Chicago Cubs pitcher Taylor Rogers throws against the Pittsburgh Pirates during the fifth inning of a baseball game, Sunday, Aug. 17, 2025, at Wrigley Field in Chicago. (AP Photo/Mark Black)
Chicago Cubs' Dansby Swanson, front right, celebrates after his RBI triple against the Pittsburgh Pirates during the fifth inning of a baseball game, Sunday, Aug. 17, 2025, at Wrigley Field in Chicago. (AP Photo/Mark Black)
WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. forces in the Caribbean Sea have seized another sanctioned oil tanker that the Trump administration says has ties to Venezuela, part of a broader U.S. effort to take control of the South American country’s oil.
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem wrote on social media that the U.S. Coast Guard had boarded the Motor Tanker Veronica early Thursday. She said the ship had previously passed through Venezuelan waters and was operating in defiance of President Donald Trump’s "established quarantine of sanctioned vessels in the Caribbean.”
U.S. Southern Command said Marines and sailors launched from the aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford to take part in the operation alongside a Coast Guard tactical team, which Noem said conducted the boarding as in previous raids. The military said the ship was seized “without incident.”
Noem posted a brief video that appeared to show part of the ship’s capture. The black-and-white footage showed helicopters hovering over the deck of a merchant vessel while armed troops dropped down on the deck by rope.
The Veronica is the sixth sanctioned tanker seized by U.S. forces as part of the effort by Trump’s administration to control the production, refining and global distribution of Venezuela’s oil products and the fourth since the U.S. ouster of Venezuela President Nicolás Maduro in a surprise nighttime raid almost two weeks ago.
The Veronica last transmitted its location on Jan. 3 as being at anchor off the coast of Aruba, just north of Venezuela’s main oil terminal. According to the data it transmitted at the time, it was partially filled with crude.
The ship is currently listed as flying the flag of Guyana and is considered part of the shadow fleet that moves cargoes of oil in violation of U.S. sanctions.
According to its registration data, the ship also has been known as the Galileo, owned and managed by a company in Russia. In addition, a tanker with the same registration number previously sailed under the name Pegas and was sanctioned by the U.S. Treasury Department for moving cargoes of illicit Russian oil.
As with prior posts about such raids, Noem and the military framed the seizure as part of an effort to enforce the law. Noem argued that the multiple captures show that “there is no outrunning or escaping American justice.”
However, other officials in Trump's Republican administration have made clear that they see the actions as a way to generate cash as they seek to rebuild Venezuela’s battered oil industry and restore its economy.
Trump met with executives from oil companies last week to discuss his goal of investing $100 billion in Venezuela to repair and upgrade its oil production and distribution. His administration has said it expects to sell at least 30 million to 50 million barrels of sanctioned Venezuelan oil.
This story has been corrected to show the Veronica is the fourth, not the third, tanker seized by U.S. forces since Maduro's capture.
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem speaks with reporters at the White House, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem speaks with reporters at the White House, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem speaks with reporters at the White House, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem speaks with reporters at the White House, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem speaks with reporters at the White House, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem speaks during a press conference, Thursday, Jan. 8, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)
U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem speaks at a news conference at Harry Reid International Airport, Nov. 22, 2025, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/Ronda Churchill, File)
