Correia pitches Pirates past Cubs 4-2

[May 28, 2011]  CHICAGO (AP) -- Kevin Correia pitched shutout ball into the eighth inning before the Pittsburgh Pirates held on to beat the Chicago Cubs 4-2 on Friday.

Correia (7-4) limited Chicago to four singles and a pair of walks in 7 1-3 innings. He moved into a tie with Boston's Jon Lester for the major league lead in wins, and has six of the Pirates' 14 victories away from PNC Park this season.

Pittsburgh's Andrew McCutchen remained a thorn in the Cubs' side with two singles, a walk, an RBI and two stolen bases. He's reached base in 19 straight games against the Cubs.

Doug Davis (0-3) walked six batters and hit another during 4 2-3 innings. The Cubs committed a pair of errors in the second that led to two unearned runs, and Davis allowed four in all.

Alfonso Soriano hit his 12th homer of the season, two-run shot off reliever Joe Beimel in the ninth, but Pittsburgh closer Joel Hanrahan came on to strike out three straight batters to remain perfect in 14 save chances this season.

The Cubs got two singles and a walk from Carlos Pena, but not much else. Pena has reached base in 20 of his last 21 games.

Chicago loaded the bases in the eighth. After Correia allowed a single to Koyie Hill and walked Kosuke Fukudome, he was replaced by reliever Jose Veras. He got Darwin Barney on a shallow fly to center, but walked Starlin Castro to load the bases.

Veras got cleanup hitter Aramis Ramirez on a pop fly to second to end the inning.

The Pirates improved to 14-12 on the road this season. Last season, they went 17-64 away from home, eight games worse than any other team in baseball.

Davis's wildness didn't help the Cubs, nor did their continuing defensive problems, which led to two unearned runs for the Pirates in the second.

After the first two batters reached, Ronny Cedeno's sacrifice bunt was mishandled by Davis, loading the bases. Ramirez then bobbled Correia's grounder to third, scoring Chris Snyder with the game's first run. The second scored on Steve Pearce's sacrifice fly.

It was the second straight game the Cubs have committed two errors in an inning, and the sixth time this season. They also dropped into last in the NL in fielding percentage.

The Pirates added two more runs against Davis in the fourth on three walks, a hit batter and an infield single. McCutchen drew a bases loaded walk to score Cedeno, and Neil Walker's infield hit brought home Jose Tabata.

Davis was finally pulled after walking Correia with two outs in the fifth. He had burned through 111 pitches by that point.

Correia also beat the Cubs at Wrigley on April 1, the opening game for both teams. The Pirates have won three of their four games in Chicago this season, and have beaten the Cubs in 15 of their last 21 meetings.

NOTES: The Cubs activated Rodrigo Lopez, acquired from Atlanta in a minor-league trade on Thursday. He was 6-1 this season for Triple-A Gwinnet. To make room on the 40-man roster, the Cubs designated Coello for assignment. Justin Berg, who threw 12 straight balls to the three batters he faced in his last outing, was optioned to Triple-A Iowa. ... Carlos Zambrano said the stiff neck he had checked out after Thursday's win over the Mets is getting better. He thinks the problem started because of the way he positions his head on the pillow while he watches TV at home. ... Pirates manager Clint Hurdle said 3B Pedro Alvarez will be able hit while he rehabs from a right quad strain. Alvarez won't be allowed to run the bases or play in the field. ... The game-time temperature at Wrigley Field was 48 degrees, the fourth straight game on the Cubs' current home stand that it's been below 50 degrees. The temp has been below 50 in 15 of their first 25 home games. ... Tabata was injured in the first inning when he collided with Hill on a play at the plate. He was helped to the dugout by the team's trainers but remained in the game.

[Associated Press]

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