Baseball Guru
05-30-2002, 07:29 PM
By ALAN ROBINSON
AP Sports Writer
May 30, 2002, 6:48 PM EDT
PITTSBURGH -- Mark Bellhorn hit his first grand slam and Alex Gonzalez followed with a solo shot in a five-run Chicago third inning as the Cubs opened a seven-run lead, then held on to beat the Pittsburgh Pirates 9-8 on Thursday
Chris Stynes added a two-run homer as the Cubs won their eighth in 12 games despite Kerry Wood's worst effort in his last six starts. Wood allowed five runs and eight hits in 5 1-3 innings after giving up four or fewer hits in each of his previous five starts.
Despite his roughest outing since giving up five runs in 5 1-3 innings in a 10-0 loss to the Dodgers on April 26, Wood (6-3) beat the Pirates for the first time in eight career starts. He was 0-3 with a 5.53 ERA against them.
Pirates left-hander Jimmy Anderson (4-7) had been 3-0 against the Cubs, but left after making his second successive rough start, allowing seven runs, six earned, and five hits in three innings. Since pitching seven shutout innings against the Cubs on May 21, he has yielded 11 earned runs in 8 1-3 innings in his last two starts.
Anderson's wildness got him into trouble in the Cubs second when he walked Bellhorn and hit Bobby Hill with a pitch. Todd Hundley, just off the disabled list, started the inning with a double, and Gonzalez had an RBI double ahead of Wood's run-scoring grounder.
The Cubs' big third inning also started with a walk, to Sammy Sosa, and was helped along by third baseman Rob Mackowiak's error on Hundley's grounder. Bellhorn's one-out homer was his fifth, and Gonzalez's solo drive was his fourth.
Anderson has allowed a club-high 11 homers in 62 2-3 innings.
Stynes' two-run homer, his third, came in the fourth after reliever Sean Lowe hit Darren Lewis with a pitch and made it 9-2 as the Pirates lost their 25th in 36 games since their 12-5 start.
Craig Wilson had a two-run single in the second off Wood, who was chased during a three-run sixth that included Adrian Brown's two-run single and Aramis Ramirez's pinch-hit RBI single.
Brian Giles ran his hitting streak to 12 games with his 13th homer in the seventh, cutting the Cubs' lead to 9-6. Giles is 20-for-39 (.513) during his streak.
A double error on reliever Juan Cruz for mishandling, then throwing away Brown's grounder led to two Pirates runs in the eighth. But Antonio Alfonseca finished up in the ninth for his eighth save in nine opportunities.
Notes:@ Thirteen of the Cubs' 52 games have been against the Pirates, but the teams don't meet again until late September. ... Giles' hitting streak is a career best. ... Kevin Young, who came into the game hitting .189, went 2-for-3 with two doubles against Wood and is now 9-for-20 against him. ... Both of the switch-hitting Bellhorn's right-handed homers have been in PNC Park, against Anderson and left-hander Dave Williams. ... Pirates manager Lloyd McClendon and catcher Jason Kendall were both ejected in the ninth inning for arguing balls and strikes.
AP Sports Writer
May 30, 2002, 6:48 PM EDT
PITTSBURGH -- Mark Bellhorn hit his first grand slam and Alex Gonzalez followed with a solo shot in a five-run Chicago third inning as the Cubs opened a seven-run lead, then held on to beat the Pittsburgh Pirates 9-8 on Thursday
Chris Stynes added a two-run homer as the Cubs won their eighth in 12 games despite Kerry Wood's worst effort in his last six starts. Wood allowed five runs and eight hits in 5 1-3 innings after giving up four or fewer hits in each of his previous five starts.
Despite his roughest outing since giving up five runs in 5 1-3 innings in a 10-0 loss to the Dodgers on April 26, Wood (6-3) beat the Pirates for the first time in eight career starts. He was 0-3 with a 5.53 ERA against them.
Pirates left-hander Jimmy Anderson (4-7) had been 3-0 against the Cubs, but left after making his second successive rough start, allowing seven runs, six earned, and five hits in three innings. Since pitching seven shutout innings against the Cubs on May 21, he has yielded 11 earned runs in 8 1-3 innings in his last two starts.
Anderson's wildness got him into trouble in the Cubs second when he walked Bellhorn and hit Bobby Hill with a pitch. Todd Hundley, just off the disabled list, started the inning with a double, and Gonzalez had an RBI double ahead of Wood's run-scoring grounder.
The Cubs' big third inning also started with a walk, to Sammy Sosa, and was helped along by third baseman Rob Mackowiak's error on Hundley's grounder. Bellhorn's one-out homer was his fifth, and Gonzalez's solo drive was his fourth.
Anderson has allowed a club-high 11 homers in 62 2-3 innings.
Stynes' two-run homer, his third, came in the fourth after reliever Sean Lowe hit Darren Lewis with a pitch and made it 9-2 as the Pirates lost their 25th in 36 games since their 12-5 start.
Craig Wilson had a two-run single in the second off Wood, who was chased during a three-run sixth that included Adrian Brown's two-run single and Aramis Ramirez's pinch-hit RBI single.
Brian Giles ran his hitting streak to 12 games with his 13th homer in the seventh, cutting the Cubs' lead to 9-6. Giles is 20-for-39 (.513) during his streak.
A double error on reliever Juan Cruz for mishandling, then throwing away Brown's grounder led to two Pirates runs in the eighth. But Antonio Alfonseca finished up in the ninth for his eighth save in nine opportunities.
Notes:@ Thirteen of the Cubs' 52 games have been against the Pirates, but the teams don't meet again until late September. ... Giles' hitting streak is a career best. ... Kevin Young, who came into the game hitting .189, went 2-for-3 with two doubles against Wood and is now 9-for-20 against him. ... Both of the switch-hitting Bellhorn's right-handed homers have been in PNC Park, against Anderson and left-hander Dave Williams. ... Pirates manager Lloyd McClendon and catcher Jason Kendall were both ejected in the ninth inning for arguing balls and strikes.