Cubs snap 10-game losing streak as Ian Happ has 3-run homer, 5 RBIs in 10-4 win over Pirates

PITTSBURGH (AP) — Ian Happ hit a tiebreaking three-run home run and drove in five runs on Wednesday night while playing in his hometown as the Chicago Cubs ended their 10-game losing streak with a 10-4 victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates.

Happ’s three-run shot snapped a 4-4 tie and started a six-run inning that helped the Cubs get their first win since May 15. Pinch-hitter Michael Conforto hit a two-run home run later in the inning to extend the lead to 10-4.

Happ also hit a two-run single in the first inning to open the scoring and has reached base in each of his last 40 games in Pittsburgh. He was one of five Cubs with two hits.

Brandon Lowe hit a three-run homer for the Pirates and rookie Konnor Griffin had a solo blast that drew the Pittsburgh into a 4-4 tie in the fourth inning.

Chicago is just the second team in major league history to have two 10-game winning streaks and a 10-game losing streak in the same season, along with the 2017 Los Angeles Dodgers.

Jacob Webb (1-1) struck out the side in order in the sixth. Yohan Ramirez (2-2), who allowed Happ’s home run, was charged with four runs in 1/3 inning.

Neither starter factored in the decision as Cubs veteran Jameson Taillon and Pirates rookie Bubba Chandler both allowed four runs in five innings. Taillon has lost his four previous starts. Chandler has gone seven starts since his only win of the season.

Bryan Reynolds had three hits for the Pirates, who had won their previous three games.

Wednesday marked the 2,000th regular-season game played at PNC Park, which opened in 2001. The Pirates have a 1,003-996-1 record there.

Cubs RHP Colin Rea (4-3, 4.83 ERA) starts Thursday night against 2025 NL Cy Young Award winner RHP Paul Skenes (6-4, 3.00) in the finale of the four-game series.

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Pittsburgh Pirates' Brandon Lowe (5) rounds the bases after hitting a three-run home runb off Chicago Cubs pitcher Jameson Taillon (50) during the third inning of a baseball game in Pittsburgh, Wednesday, May 27, 2026. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)

Pittsburgh Pirates pitcher Yohan Ramírez, center, walks off the mound after handing the ball to manager Don Kelly, left, during the seventh inning of a baseball game against the Chicago Cubs in Pittsburgh, Wednesday, May 27, 2026. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)

Chicago Cubs fans celebrate after the final out of a baseball game between the Pittsburgh Pirates and the Chicago Cubs in Pittsburgh, Wednesday, May 27, 2026. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)

Chicago Cubs pitcher Ethan Roberts (39) celebrates with catcher Carson Kelly after getting the final out of a baseball game against the Pittsburgh Pirates in Pittsburgh, Wednesday, May 27, 2026. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)

Chicago Cubs' Ian Happ, top, rounds the bases after hitting a three-run home run off Pittsburgh Pirates pitcher Yohan Ramírez (49) during the seventh inning of a baseball game in Pittsburgh, Wednesday, May 27, 2026. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)

ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — Yordan Alvarez was expecting to take a strike with a 3-0 count and the score tied in the eighth inning for the Houston Astros against the Texas Rangers.

Then came a slider, and the Houston slugger just liked the look of it.

Next thing Alvarez knew, he had homered twice in consecutive games for the first time in his eight big league seasons, and put the Astros in front for good in a 4-3 victory Wednesday night.

“Like, who swings on a 3-0 slider and hits it 110 (mph) to the batter’s eye?” Jeremy Peña asked as part of an answer to what he thought was Alvarez's most impressive at-bat in a 3-for-4 night. “That goes to show that he’s two steps ahead. He knew that they weren’t going to challenge him with something hard.”

The Rangers weren't trying to challenge him at all. And they didn't in the ninth inning, when they walked Alvarez intentionally right after Peña's single. That led Houston's leadoff hitter and shortstop to playfully tell the powerful man following him in the lineup, “You’ve got to thank me for that walk. You owe me that walk.”

The question for Texas manager Skip Schumaker was why he didn't walk Alvarez intentionally an inning earlier when Rangers reliever Tyler Alexander had already thrown him three balls.

“It’s tough to walk the leadoff hitter, no doubt, with a tie game in the eighth inning,” Schumaker said while also mentioning he would have been fine with a walk to Alvarez in that spot. “I don’t know if I’ve ever done that before. But the way he’s hitting, hindsight is always maybe we should have just put him on at that point.”

Alvarez has 17 home runs in 33 games at Globe Life Field, including five in the first three games of this four-game series that ends Thursday night.

“Apparently, I love playing here,” Alvarez said through an interpreter.

He reached 20 for the season in his 56th game — the fastest Houston slugger to reach that mark while doing it on the same night as Munetaka Murakami of Chicago White Sox. Philadelphia's Kyle Schwarber leads the majors with 21 homers.

Alvarez's first solo homer pulled Houston even at 2-2 against Texas ace Jacob deGrom, who struck out Alvarez in the first inning.

“I was joking with the guys in the dugout that it was kind of like he was throwing me, like, Playstation style, just dotting the corners,” Alvarez said. “But in the second at-bat, I was able to adjust.”

The homer off Alexander went 448 feet to deep right-center field, landing not far from his 449-foot drive a night earlier — a three-run shot that was the first of two when Houston lost 10-7 after falling behind 8-0 in the first inning.

Alvarez leads the American League with a .306 average and is fourth in the AL with 39 RBIs, one behind teammate Christian Walker.

“It is a combination of skills and intelligence,” Houston manager Joe Espada said. “You guys see the skills. I see the intelligence. In between at-bats, how he talks through an at-bat, ‘This is what I’m looking for, I’m going to stay within myself and I’m going to try to do something.’ There is a level of intelligence and calm through his at-bats that I have never, ever seen in my career.”

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Houston Astros' Yordan Alvarez walks out of the batters box watching the flight of his solo home run in the eighth inning of a baseball game against the Texas Rangers Wednesday, May 27, 2026, in Arlington, Texas. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez)

Houston Astros' Yordan Alvarez, left, and Jeremy Pena (3) celebrate in the dugout after Alvarez hit a solo home run in the eighth inning of a baseball game against the Texas Rangers Wednesday, May 27, 2026, in Arlington, Texas. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez)

Houston Astros' Yordan Alvarez celebrates his solo home run in the fourth inning of a baseball game against the Texas Rangers Wednesday, May 27, 2026, in Arlington, Texas. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez)