Sanchez's 6 hits lead Pirates over Cubs

[May 26, 2009]  CHICAGO (AP) -- Freddy Sanchez had Pittsburgh's first six-hit game in 19 years, scored four runs, and drove in three to help the Pirates beat the Cubs 10-8 on Monday night, sending Chicago to its eighth straight loss.

Despite scoring three more runs than they did on the entire winless six-game road trip that ended Sunday, the Cubs fell to 21-22 and were booed repeatedly by their fans.

The last time the Cubs lost eight straight was 2006, when they went on to finish 66-96, costing manager Dusty Baker and team president Andy MacPhail their jobs.

Sanchez hit a two-run homer, doubled and singled four times for the second six-hit game in the majors this season and the first by a Pirate since Wally Backman did it in 1990. Ian Kinsler had a six-hit effort for Texas on April 15 against Baltimore.

Sanchez entered the game in an 8-for-45 slump. The Pirates pulled off a rare Chicago double: rallying to win games against the White Sox and Cubs on consecutive days.

One day after getting 16 hits at U.S. Cellular Field, Pittsburgh had a season-high 18 at Wrigley Field.

Nate McLouth followed Sanchez's one-out single in the sixth with a homer off Neal Cotts (0-2). Adam LaRoche then doubled and came home on brother Andy LaRoche's double. In the seventh, Nyjer Morgan tripled and scored on Sanchez's single to make it 10-7.

The Cubs got a run back in the seventh off Tom Gorzelanny (2-1) and had two on when Jesse Chavez struck out Carlos Zambrano to end the threat. Cubs manager Lou Piniella used Zambrano, a pitcher, as a pinch-hitter even though position players Kosuke Fukudome, Mike Fontenot and Koyie Hill were available.

After regular Pirates closer Matt Capps was knocked out of the game in the ninth when struck by Geovany Soto's line drive, Sean Burnett got the final two outs for his first career save.

Milton Bradley, a $30 million free agent acquisition who had been doing more complaining about umpires than hitting, entered the game batting .188 with nine RBIs.

"Getting on umpires is not a good solution," Piniella said before the game. "What we need Milton to do is ... (hit) the ball the way he has in the past."

Bradley responded with a two-run double in the third and a two-run homer in the fourth.

Notes: Ryan Theriot had three doubles for the Cubs. ... Each starting pitcher lasted only four innings. Pittsburgh's Paul Maholm allowed seven runs and Chicago's Ryan Dempster gave up six. ... Cubs 1B Derrek Lee and utility infielder Bobby Scales were scratched from the lineup with the flu. Scales flied out as a pinch-hitter in the fourth but Lee was sent home before the game. ... Cubs reliever Carlos Marmol went to New York to be with his wife, who is scheduled to give birth to their second child on Tuesday. ... Andy LaRoche had three hits and is batting .447 during a 10-game hitting streak. ... Ted Lilly, who started Sunday's game at San Diego for the Cubs, was ejected in Monday's fifth inning for complaining about ball-strike calls from the dugout.

[Associated Press]

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