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Sports

Pirates edge Cubs, keep pace in NL Central

By Sports Network
Published | Updated

Pittsburgh, PA – Justin Morneau drove in the winning run in the eighth inning as the Pittsburgh Pirates took a 3-2 win over the Chicago Cubs on Sunday to wrap up a four-game set.

Pittsburgh and St. Louis remain tied for first place in the NL Central as the Cardinals defeated the Mariners on Sunday.

Tony Sanchez hit a solo home run for the Pirates, who have won six of their last seven games.

Francisco Liriano pitched into the seventh and was charged with two runs on three hits with four walks and four strikeouts. Kyle Farnsworth (1-0) pitched a scoreless eighth inning to get the win.

Welington Castillo hit a two-run home run for the Cubs, who have lost four of their last five. Travis Wood lasted six innings in the start and gave up two runs on five hits. Pedro Strop (2-2) was handed the loss.

"We knew runs were going to be tough to come by today and we needed Wood to have that kind of game," said Chicago manager Dale Sveum. "He did good and matched Liriano pitch-for-pitch there today."

In the eighth, Andrew McCutchen was hit by a pitch with one out and moved to second on Marlon Byrd's single. Morneau then hit a pinch-hit single to left for a 3-2 lead.

"They've impacted our flow and they've impacted our lineup," said Pittsburgh manager Clint Hurdle about Moneau and Byrd. "We had a good team coming into the point where the deals were made to bring these guys in and they made us stronger."

Mark Melancon pitched a 1-2-3 ninth to pick up his 16th save of the season.

Jose Tabata led off the Pittsburgh first with a triple and quickly scored on a wild pitch from Wood.

Sanchez led off the fourth with his second home run, a shot over the right- center wall.

Chicago, though, tied the game in the seventh as Junior Lake led off with a single and Castillo followed with his seventh home run of the year.

Game Notes

Pittsburgh has won 10 of the 16 games against Chicago this year ... The Pirates host San Diego for four games starting on Monday ... Chicago continues its 11-game road trip in Milwaukee as the teams will play a four-game set beginning on Monday.