Cubs can’t get past depleted Pirates
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PITTSBURGH – Ross Ohlendorf pitched seven innings and Freddy Sanchez got the depleted Pirates going by scoring from second on a ball that bounded only a few feet from home plate during the fourth inning, helping Pittsburgh beat the Chicago Cubs 3-0 on Tuesday night.
Sanchez, coming off probably his worst game of the season, went 3-for-3, reached base four times, and drove in two runs as the Pirates beat the Cubs for only the sixth time in their last 26 games in Pittsburgh.
The Cubs finished a forgettable June in which they went 11-14, their first losing month since August 2007. Their June swoon included manager Lou Piniella’s blowup with Milton Bradley, seven extra-inning games, Bradley forgetting how many outs there were and throwing the ball into the stands and Geovany Soto’s apology for failing a drug test.
The finish wasn’t memorable, either, with the Cubs running themselves out of a possible rally in the seventh and leaving runners on second and third in the eighth after they reached with none out.
With the Pirates leading 2-0, Soto and Mike Fontenot singled against Ohlendorf (7-6) with two out in the seventh. Soto briefly held up at second on Fontenot’s single to left, changed his mind and tried to advance but was easily thrown out by left fielder Brandon Moss.
An inning later, Ryan Theriot singled off John Grabow and moved to third when shortstop Jack Wilson threw wildly on pinch-hitter Bradley’s infield grounder, with Bradley taking second. Grabow recovered to strike out Alfonso Soriano and Kosuke Fukudome, and Derrek Lee grounded out.
Before that, Ohlendorf made his best start since holding Florida to two hits over seven shutout innings on April 20.
He gave up four hits, struck out eight and walked none while limiting the Cubs’ middle three hitters – Lee, Jake Fox and Micah Hoffpauir – to one single in nine at-bats.
The Pirates, with only 23 players in uniform Tuesday rather than the usual 25 due to two trades, went 14-13 in June – their first winning record in the month since they were 15-12 in 1996.
Sanchez played as if he wanted to make up for going 0 for 4, grounding into a double play and stranding six runners during a 3-1 loss to Chicago on Monday.
Sanchez singled to start the fourth against Ted Lilly (7-6) and moved up on Andy LaRoche’s two-out single. Moss struck out swinging, but the ball bounced high into the air after striking the dirt. Sanchez kept running and scored when Lilly was late covering the plate. Lilly drew an error for mishandling Soto’s throw.
Sanchez had a run-scoring single an inning later and doubled following pinch-hitter Steve Pearce’s double in the seventh.
Matt Capps pitched a scoreless ninth for his 18th save in 20 opportunities.
NOTES: The Pirates were down two players after trading OF Eric Hinske, OF Nyjer Morgan and LHP Sean Burnett. They recalled OF Garrett Jones from Triple-A Indianapolis. ... RHP Jeff Samardzija, recalled earlier in the day, pitched a scoreless eighth for Chicago. ... The Cubs are 2-7 on a 10-game trip that ends Wednesday. ... Tuesday was the 100th anniversary of the opening of Forbes Field in Pittsburgh.
