Bucs: Pirates Snap Skid, Beat Cubs 4-2
PITTSBURGH — Pirates starter Kevin Correia held the Cubs scoreless and drove in a run in a 4-2 victory at Wrigley Field Friday afternoon.
Correia went 7 1/3 innings, allowing just four hits to the Cubs while striking out two. He pitched three no-hit innings to start the game and reached on an error in the second inning with the bases loaded to open the scoring.
Correia hit a dribbler to Cubs third baseman Aramiz Ramirez, who charged at the ball but couldn't make a play. Chris Snyder scored for a 1-0 Pirates lead and the bases remained loaded with no outs.
After a Jose Tabata strikeout, Steve Pearce hit a sacrifice fly to left field to score Lyle Overbay and give Pittsburgh a 2-0 lead after two innings.
The Pirates piled on in the fourth with two more runs. With the bases loaded and two outs, Andrew McCutchen walked to score Ronny Cedeno. It was McCutchen's 25th RBI on the year in going 2-for-4 at the plate on the day and reaching base three times.
Neil Walker followed with an infield single to third — this time Ramirez made a diving stop, but Pearce slid head first in to third and beat Ramirez to the bag — to score Tabata for a 4-0 lead.
It was all maintenance from there for Correia and the Pirates. After pitching his way out of a two-hit fourth inning, Correia pitched 1-2-3 fifth, sixth and seventh innings.
He was relieved by Jose Veras after a four-pitch walk in the eighth to put two on for the Cubs with one out. Veras walked Starlin Castro to load the bases with two outs but got Ramirez to fly out to end the inning scoreless.
Joe Beimel came in to pitch the ninth and gave up a two-run homer to Alfonso Soriano after opening the inning with a walk to close the gap to 4-2. Beimel was quickly pulled for closer Joel Hanrahan, who struck out the side to end the game.
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Notes:
- Neil Walker drove in his team-leading 31st RBI in the fourth inning.
- Andrew McCutchen (9) and Jose Tabata (13) each stole bases in the game, Tabata in the first and McCutchen twice in the sixth.
- Joel Hanrahan earned a save, making him a perfect 14-for-14 on the season in save opportunities.
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Chris Gates | Bucs Blog
Twitter.com/Chris_Gates
Chris.Gates@cbsradio.com
