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Pirates edge Cubs, snap 5-game skid

Sep 2, 2011 - 11:42 PM Chicago, IL (Sports Network) - Garrett Jones, Josh Harrison and Jose Tabata each drove in a run to back 5 1/3 solid innings from Brian Burres, as the Pittsburgh Pirates held off the Chicago Cubs, 3-1, in the opener of a three- game series.

Burres (1-0), making his first appearance in the majors this season, gave up one run on five hits to pick up the win. The southpaw went 4-5 with the Pirates over 20 appearances (13 starts) in 2010.

Pittsburgh, which snapped a five-game skid, lost outfielder Andrew McCutchen in the first inning. Ryan Dempster threw a fastball that hit the top of McCutchen's left hand. He was able to run the bases but did not take the field in the bottom half of the inning.

Alex Presley moved from left field to center and Tabata came off the bench to play left. Tabata did not start because of an injured wrist.

Carlos Pena homered for the Cubs, who have lost two in a row since a two-game winning streak.

Dempster (10-11) gave up three runs on seven hits over 6 1/3 innings to take the loss. He struck out nine and walked one in his third straight defeat.

Pena's blast to center in the second gave the Cubs an early 1-0 lead.

The Pirates responded with two runs in the third to go in front for good. Presley led off with a triple high off the wall in right and crossed the plate on Harrison's base hit up the middle. Neil Walker reached base when he grounded into a fielder's choice, moved to second on Tabata's groundout and scored on Jones' ground-rule double to right.

"I tried to survive those first couple of innings," Dempster said. "I was able to get out there in the seventh. I just could've made some better pitches there in the third inning. I left a couple balls up, and it ended up being enough to cost us the game."

Chicago left men on first and second in the third and fourth.

Pittsburgh tacked on another run in the seventh. Presley hit a one-out triple to right. Kerry Wood took over for Dempster and walked Walker to put men on the corners with two outs. Tabata followed with an RBI single for a 3-1 lead.

Joel Hanrahan tossed a scoreless ninth to pick up his 33rd save of the season.

"You just try to see pitches and get on base," Presley said. "I was familiar with Dempster from the last time facing him so I tried to be a little more aggressive."

Game Notes

The Cubs had won four straight over the Pirates...Burres was 5-9 with a 4.66 earned run average in 23 starts at Triple-A Indianapolis...Dempster fell to 8-12 in 49 career meetings with the Pirates...The Cubs started a six-game homestand on Friday...Chicago selected the contract of infielder Bryan LaHair from their Triple-A affiliate in Iowa, just a day after he was named the MVP of the Pacific Coast League...Cubs right-hander Carlos Zambrano will not pitch again this season, although the club will resume paying him after a 30-day suspension concludes on September 11.