The Cubs sent out the same lineup again Wednesday night against the Pirates, keeping Pete Crow-Armstrong in the leadoff spot and leaving Colin Rea out of the batting order entirely as Chicago tried to stop a 10-game losing streak at PNC Park. The game was scheduled for 5:40 PM CT and carried on Marquee Sports Network and 104.3 The Score.
Craig Counsell’s answer to a 12-1 loss the night before was repetition. He kept the same order he had used in the previous game, with Crow-Armstrong in center field and batting first, Nico Hoerner second at second base, Michael Busch third at first base, Alex Bregman fourth at third base, Ian Happ fifth in left, Seiya Suzuki sixth in right, Moisés Ballesteros seventh as the designated hitter, Carson Kelly eighth at catcher and Dansby Swanson ninth at shortstop. The move meant Kelly did not get a day off in place of Miguel Amaya, and it left the Cubs asking the same lineup to produce against Pittsburgh after another flat showing.
The decision carried a gamble that had not paid off in the earlier look at the experiment. Crow-Armstrong had only two hits in 17 plate appearances while batting first, even though Counsell had already used him there for eight games in 2025. Swanson entered the game hitting.183, and Suzuki had not hit his way on base since May 19 against the Brewers. Those numbers helped explain why the Cubs, despite a 29-26 record, were trying the same arrangement instead of shuffling again.
Counsell had spent the previous week trying different ways to jolt an offense that had gone cold, but the results had not changed. The Cubs were still carrying the weight of the skid, and the same cast members were now being asked to answer for it in the same order. That left Chicago with a clear test at PNC Park: whether familiarity could do what the recent lineup changes could not.
If the Cubs could not score against the Pirates with the same group a second time, the next move would have to be more than cosmetic.
