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 "It's not about what happened, it's about what we've got to do
next," said Pirates manager Clint Hurdle following the win in the
opener of a three-game Wrigley Field series. "It was a fistfight off
the mound for us most of the night.
"We executed extremely well the first inning on offense and tacked
three more single runs on," Hurdle added. "(And) we finished strong
out of the bullpen, that was really good to see."
Right-handers Mark Melancon and Jason Grilli worked the final two
scoreless and hitless innings.
Left fielder Starling Marte scored the winning run on catcher
Russell Martin's eighth-inning sacrifice fly to right off Cubs
left-hander James Russel. The sacrifice delivered Marte from third
after two Cubs relievers combined to load the bases.
Left-hander Tony Watson (2-0) worked the seventh and earned the win
as the Pirates won their fifth in seven games and third in four
meetings with the Cubs.
Grilli worked the ninth for his second save. Cubs right-hander Pedro
Strop (0-1) took the loss in relief.
Pittsburgh right-hander Charlie Morton worked six innings but earned
a no-decision in his second start. He allowed five earned runs on
eight hits while striking out five, walking one and giving up two
home runs.
"The two pitches they scored four of those runs were terrible
pitches — two pitches," Morton said. "(The effort) was decent. It
could have turned out a lot better had I executed a little bit
better. But the guys picked me up."
Cubs right-hander Edwin Jackson didn't factor into the decision
after working 4 2/3 innings. He gave up six runs and nine hits,
walked four and struck out four.
"I left a lot of balls out and over the plate, which is a bad
combination for our team, Jackson said. "Our team did a great job of
coming back and fighting back, but at the end of the day I've got to
do a better job of getting the ball down and executing pitches."
Marte was 1-for-3 with two walks and three runs scored while Martin,
center fielder Andrew McCutchen, third baseman Pedro Alvarez and
second baseman Neil Walker each had two hits.
Cubs shortstop Starlin Castro went 3-for-4 with four RBIs and
homered twice, second baseman Emilio Bonifacio went 3-for-5 with an
RBI and first baseman Anthony Rizzo was 2-for-3 with an RBI.
The Pirates hit Jackson for four runs in the first, including
Marte's first-pitch double down the third-base line and a one-out
walk to McCutchen.
Both came home on Alvarez's double to right. Walker made it 3-0 with
an RBI single to right. A sacrifice fly to center by first baseman
Travis Ishikawa scored Martin, who had reached after being hit by a
pitch.
The Cubs got one run back in the second when leadoff batter Emilio
Bonifacio singled up the middle to score center fielder Ryan Sweeney
with two out.
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Castro tied the game at 4 in the third with his second hit of the
night off Morton, a one-out home run to the corner of the left-field
bleachers that scored first baseman Anthony Rizzo and third baseman
Luis Valbuena. The homer was Castro's first of the season.
The Pirates jumped back ahead in the fourth as McCutchen's two-out
single drove home Marte from second for a 5-4 lead. They added a run
in the fifth as Martin doubled to right to open the inning and
reached third on Walker's fly to right. Martin scored on Ishikawa's
one-out triple to the right field wall.
Shortstop Jordy Mercer was intentionally walked and advanced to
second on Morton's sacrifice bunt for the second out.
But that was it for Jackson, who left in favor of right-handed
reliever Brian Schlitter, who got Marte to ground out to close the
inning.
The Cubs trailed 6-4 in the sixth before Castro lined a leadoff solo
home run to left off Morton to cut the Pirates' lead to one run.
The Cubs rallied to a 6-6 tie in the seventh as Rizzo drove in
Bonifacio, who had singled to open the inning, reached second on a
sacrifice and stole third with one out.
"Edwin gave up a few runs early obviously, but we kept chipping
away, didn't quit," Cubs manager Rick Renteria said."We had some
walks today today (seven total) that kind of hurt us. (But)
all-in-all we kept battling, we kept playing."
Renteria was ejected with one out in the Pirates' ninth by home
plate umpire Jeff Nelson after apparently disputing a call from the
dugout.
NOTES: RHP Jameson Taillon, the Pirates' top pitching prospect, will
undergo Tommy John surgery at an unspecified date and is out for the
season, the club announced. ... The Pirates are in the midst of a
26-game run all against NL Central Division opponents, including a
split with the Cubs in their season-opening series last week. ...
Tuesday's series opener is the Cubs' first of 38 scheduled night
games. The Cubs were 12-18 under the lights last year. ... The Cubs
send RHP Jason Hamel (1-0, 1.35 ERA) against Pirates LHP Wandy
Rodriguez (0-1, 4.50 ERA) at 7:05 p.m. Wednesday. The series
concludes Thursday with a 1:20 p.m. (CT) game.
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