Errors, lack of offense lead to Cubs loss
Brian Burres pitched into the sixth in his first start of the season and Alex Presley had two triples, helping the Pittsburgh Pirates beat the Chicago Cubs 3-1 on Friday.
Presley reached four times and scored twice as Pittsburgh snapped a five-game losing streak. Josh Harrison doubled, singled and scored twice.
Burres (1-0) allowed one run and five hits over 5 1-3 innings. The left-hander was promoted from Triple-A Indianapolis on Thursday.
Four Pirates relievers combined for 3 2-3 perfect innings, with Joel Hanrahan picking up his 33rd save in 36 chances. Jason Grilli got the last two outs of the sixth, Chris Leroux pitched the seventh and Jose
Veras worked the eighth before Hanrahan struck out two in the ninth.
Carlos Pena went deep for the Cubs, who have lost nine of 12. The first baseman now has at least 25 homers in five straight seasons and six times overall in his career.
Ryan Dempster (10-11) worked out of a couple of early jams and held Pittsburgh to three runs and seven hits over 6 1-3 innings. He struck out nine, two shy of his season best, and threw a season-high 121 pitches.
Pena connected in the second, hitting a drive to the deepest part of center field to give the Cubs the lead.
Pittsburgh responded with two in the third. Presley led off with a triple off the right-field wall and Harrison followed with a single to right. Garrett Jones added a two-out RBI double.
Neither team mounted much offense after that. The Cubs stranded two runners in the third and fourth. The Pirates didn't threaten again until Presley's one-out triple in the seventh chased Dempster. Presley scored on Jose Tabata's two-out single off Kerry Wood.
Presley became the first Pirate to record two triples in a game since Andrew McCutchen on June 8, 2009. He has five triples on the season.
Fielding woes have plagued the Cubs, who entered with a major league-leading 114 errors and added two more on Friday. That doesn't include a miscue in the first when Harrison's grounder to shortstop
Starlin Castro was misplayed into a rare infield double when the Cubs failed to cover second base.
McCutchen was hit in the left wrist area in the first inning. He remained in the game to run the bases, but was replaced by Tabata before the Cubs batted in the bottom half.
NOTES: The Cubs promoted 1B Bryan LaHair from Triple-A Iowa. LaHair's 38 home runs for Iowa were leading the minor leagues. . Cubs RHP Andrew Cashner (right rotator cuff sprain) pitched a scoreless inning in a rehab outing for Iowa. Manager Mike Quade said Cashner reached 99 mph with his fastball and the club is hopeful he will return to the big leagues next week. . The Cubs announced that RHP Carlos Zambrano will not pitch for them again this season, even though his time on the disqualified list expires on Sept. 11. . RHP Jeff Karstens (shoulder), who was scratched from his scheduled start Friday, played catch but is likely to miss more than just this start, Pirates manager Clint Hurdle said. . Pirates 1B Derrek Lee (left wrist) took batting practice and the team hopes to activate him from the 15-day disabled list on Sunday if all goes well. . The Cubs will send RHP Casey Coleman to the hill on Saturday to face Pittsburgh RHP Ross Ohlendorf. Coleman has an 11.34 ERA in 19 2-3 innings at Wrigley Field this season.