Pittsburgh 8, Chi. Cubs 2
When: 8:05 PM ET, Tuesday, September 24, 2013
Where: Wrigley Field, Chicago, Illinois
Temperature:
63°
Umpires:
Home -
Scott Barry, 1B -
Alfonso Marquez, 2B -
Ted Barrett, 3B -
Mike DiMuro
Attendance:
34138
By SportsDirect Inc.
Pirates 8, Cubs 2: Gerrit Cole pitched six strong innings and delivered a two-run single as visiting Pittsburgh beat Chicago for the second straight night.
Pedro Alvarez drove in three runs with a pair of doubles and Jordy Mercer homered for the Pirates, who remain two games behind St. Louis in the National League Central but moved a game ahead of Cincinnati in the race for home-field advantage in the NL wild-card game.
Cole (10-7) struck out six, walked one and allowed two runs on seven hits over six innings to win his fourth straight start. Cubs starter Chris Rusin (2-6) surrendered four runs on six hits over 2 1/3 innings.
Alvarez opened the scoring with an RBI ground-rule double in the second, and Cole kept the inning going with a two-run single up the middle. Mercer made it 4-0 with his seventh homer in the third, and Alvarez knocked in two more with a double down the left-field line in the fifth for a 6-1 advantage.
The Cubs had a chance to get back in it in the sixth, loading the bases and plating a run when Mercer booted a grounder, but Cole struck out back-to-back batters and Donnie Murphy flew out to the warning track to douse the threat.
GAME NOTEBOOK: Cole has gone at least five innings and allowed four or fewer runs in all 19 of his starts. … The Cubs have hit .182 and scored a total of 40 runs in 18 games against the Pirates this season. … Pittsburgh LH Jeff Locke will not make another start but could make the postseason roster in a relief role. Locke made his first All-Star Game after a great first half but is 1-5 with a 6.66 ERA over his last 11 starts.
Top Game Performances
Team Stats Summary
| Team |
Hits |
HR |
TB |
Avg |
LOB |
K |
RBI |
BB |
SB |
Errors |
| Pittsburgh
|
12 |
1 |
20 |
.308 |
21 |
11 |
8 |
4 |
0 |
1 |
| Chi. Cubs
|
10 |
0 |
10 |
.294 |
21 |
12 |
2 |
3 |
0 |
1 |
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