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Pirates begin road trip versus Cubs

May 27, 2011 - 3:02 PM (Sports Network) - Their season-high four-game winning streak is long gone, but that won't stop the Pittsburgh Pirates from playing competitive baseball as they kick off a seven-game road trip tonight against the Chicago Cubs in the opener of a three-game series at Wrigley Field.

Pittsburgh has dropped three in a row since a four-game winning streak and fell to 4-9 in the last 13 games with Wednesday's 4-2 loss in 11 innings versus the Atlanta Braves in the finale of a two-game set from PNC Park. The Pirates went 2-3 on the residency and pinned their latest loss on reliever Jeff Karstens, who allowed a two-run homer to Brooks Conrad in the top of the 11th inning.

James McDonald's six innings of two-run ball with six strikeouts went to waste, while Steve Pearce led the offense by going 3-for-5 with a home run and two RBI for the Pirates, who got two hits apiece from Matt Diaz and Lyle Overbay. Bucs manager Clint Hurdle moved center fielder Andrew McCutchen to third in the lineup and put Jose Tabata in the leadoff spot. Both players went a combined 2-for-8 with Tabata collecting the hits.

"We've got nothing to lose," Hurdle said prior to Wednesday's loss about the switch. "We're going to try it for a while. I'm still trying to find a way to help us become more consistent of an offense."

The following statistic should make Hurdle a bit more relieved: McCutchen has reached base safely in each of his last 18 games against the Cubs, going 27- for-66 for a .409 average with two home runs, three triples, four doubles, six stolen bases, 12 RBI and 13 walks. Second baseman Neil Walker also enjoys playing against the NL Central-rival Cubs and has hit safely in all 12 of his career games in this series. In that span Walker owns a .422 average with four homers, seven doubles and 12 runs batted in.

Shortstop Ronny Cedeno has gone 33 games without an error and has hit safely in 19 of his last 23 games, recording a .315 average in the stretch. Hurdle's club has played nine series on the road this season and has prevailed in six of them. The Pirates won only four road series a year ago and three in the 2009 campaign. They are slated to visit the Mets for four games on the road swing and will hand Kevin Correia the ball today in Chicago. He's 6-4 with a 3.84 ERA in 11 games (10 starts) this season.

Correia ended a personal two-game losing streak in a 6-3 win over Detroit last Saturday, tossing 6 2/3 innings of two-run ball with four K's and no walks. The right-hander is 3-2 in his last five decisions and has pitched well on the road as evidenced by his 5-1 mark in six starts away from the Steel City. He has won five of Pittsburgh's 13 road victories this season. Correia defeated the Cubs on Opening Day, but is 2-2 against them with a 5.10 ERA in nine career appearances, five of which have been starts.

Chicago, meanwhile, has alternated wins and losses in its last seven games and won two of three matchups with the Mets, including Thursday's 9-3 victory in the series finale from Wrigley Field.

The Cubs put the game out of reach with a four-run fourth inning highlighted by Carlos Pena's two-run homer and starting pitcher Carlos Zambrano's RBI single. Pena has reached base safely in 19 of his past 20 games. Kosuke Fukudome went 3-for-4 with a home run and Alfonso Soriano collected two hits and a pair of runs batted in for the Cubs in the opening series of a nine-game homestand that also includes a visit from Houston.

Zambrano and Tony Campana, who was making his first major league start, both had three hits, while Zambrano also scored a run and yielded two runs -- one earned -- in six innings for his fifth win of the season (5-2).

"He's a veteran hitter," Cubs manager Mike Quade said on the team's official website. "He's more disciplined. It's funny to me. I don't know if [hitting coach Rudy Jaramillo] has been spending time with him or whatever, but God, he loves to hit. He threw the ball well and we needed that, too."

In 30 games and 139 at-bats with Triple-A Iowa this season, Campana was hitting .342 with eight stolen bases before joining the big league club. Chicago acquired Rodrigo Lopez from Atlanta on Thursday and sent left-hander Ryan Buchter to the Braves.

Doug Davis draws the pitching assignment for Quade's team in tonight's series opener with the Pirates and is 0-2 with an 8.31 earned run average in his first two starts. He lost to San Francisco on May 14, then dropped a 15-5 decision at Boston last Friday. Davis was hit hard by the Red Sox, who compiled seven runs and eight hits in 3 2/3 innings against the lefty.

Davis hopes to rebound against a Pirates team he is very familiar with, having posted an 8-6 mark and a 4.91 ERA in 23 career starts. He is 2-0 with a 3.00 ERA in his last three starts against the Bucs. It will also be the 300th career appearance for the veteran Davis.

The Pirates won two of three meetings with the Cubs from April 1-3 in the Windy City and are 14-6 in the past 20 encounters between the NL Central inhabitants. Pittsburgh is 11-9 against division foes this season with an 0-5 record against Milwaukee.