The Chicago Cubs failed to make it three straight wins on Saturday, unable to complete a late comeback and falling to the Pittsburgh Pirates, 7-6.
Chicago allowed the Pirates to snap a colossal seven-game losing skid after providing that seventh loss, besting them, 7-4, on Friday
Andrew McCutchen had a home run on the day, and managed to reach base a total of four times. He also had a single and two walks on the day, while Starling Marte and Clint Barnes both had a pair of hits on the day. Chicago had four different players notch two-hit days, yet couldn't seal the deal late and bring their runners home.
Pittsburgh had a 6-1 lead entering the fifth inning thanks to strong play from Wandy Rodriguez, but he allowed a pair of runs in the fifth, with one earned run on the day. He left the game in the after going six innings, leaving the seventh for Tony Watson and Jared Hughes. Jason Grilli handled the eighth and gave up a run, but it got really sketchy in the ninth, when Joel Hanrahan gave up two runs but still managed to pull off his 35th save of the season.
Jason Berken was given the loss for the Cubs, as he lasted just four innings on the day. He gave up eight hits for six runs, though only two of them were classified as earned. One of those was a home run, and he only managed to strikeout two batters before it was all over. Alfonso Soriano was the one to single in the ninth, scoring Joe Mather to start the comeback. Luis Valbuena drew a walk that scored Darwin Barney, but Dave Sappelt struck out swinging to end the game.
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