|
 Hammel's ERA rose to 1.24 after entering the game with a National
League-leading 0.75 mark as he gave up two runs and five hits in
five-plus innings with three strikeouts and one walk. His streak of
five straight starts of allowing one run or fewer ended.
Rizzo hit an RBI double and scored in the third inning as the Cubs
went ahead 2-1. He then doubled again during a four-run fifth that
pushed the lead to 6-1.
The Cubs improved to 18-6, tops in the major leagues, and avoided
losing consecutive games for the first time this season while
winning for the fifth time in six games.
Dexter Fowler had two hits for the Cubs, including a double, and two
stolen bases, and Javier Baez also had two of Chicago's 11 hits.
David Ross hit a two-run single in the fifth, Ben Zobrist had two
RBIs and Kris Bryant extended his hitting streak to eight games.
 Gerrit Cole (2-3) was roughed up for six runs -- five earned -- and
six hits in 4 2/3 innings after winning his previous two starts. He
struck out six but walked four in losing to the Cubs for just the
second time in nine regular-season decisions.
Jordy Mercer went 3-for-3 with a walk for Pittsburgh and has reached
base in 14 straight games, but Josh Harrison's 10-game hitting
streak ended as he went 0-for-4. Andrew McCutchen drove in both
Pirates runs with a first-inning homer, his sixth, and a ground out
in the fifth.
The Pirates (15-11) lost their second straight game after winning
six in a row.
The Cubs pulled in front 2-1 in the third inning when Rizzo hit a
two-out RBI double and scored on Zobrist's single.
A four-run fifth extended the lead to 6-1 and chased Cole.
Zobrist hit a sacrifice fly, and David Ross greeted reliever A.J.
Schugel with a two-run single before Matt Szczur scored on the back
end of an attempted double steal with Ross. Pirates second baseman
Josh Harrison made a wild throw home in an attempt to get Szczur.
Szczur initially was credited with a steal of home, but the official
scorer later changed the call to a throwing error on Harrison that
let Szczur score and Ross reach second.
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Szczur was removed from the game in the middle of the fifth with
tightness in his right hamstring.
Zobrist scored on a wild pitch by Kyle Lobstein in the seventh to
increase the Cubs' lead to 7-2.
Home plate umpire Laz Diaz warned both benches after Lobstein hit
Zobrist with a pitch to lead off the inning. That came after Hammel
hit the last batter he faced, Starling Marte, to start the bottom of
the sixth.
The teams had a benches-clearing incident in last year's NL
wild-card game when Pirates reliever Tony Watson plunked Jake
Arrieta, who went on to a pitch a five-hit shutout.
NOTES: Cubs RF Jason Heyward (sore right wrist) was not in the
lineup for the first time this season, and he many also miss Tuesday
night's game. Matt Szczur started in Heyward's place. ... Chicago LF
Jorge Soler was on the bench for a second straight game as manager
Joe Maddon opted to again play 3B Kris Bryant in left field and INF
Tommy La Stella at third base. ... Pirates rookie C Elias Diaz will
undergo elbow surgery sometime this week. The team's medical staff
is confident his ulnar collateral ligament is not torn, which would
mean he will likely have an arthroscopic procedure rather than Tommy
John ligament transplant surgery. ... The three-game series
continues Tuesday night with Cubs RHP Jake Arrieta (5-0, 1.00 ERA)
facing Pirates LHP Jon Niese (3-0, 5.08 ERA).
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