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Maholm throws three-hit shutout

May 28, 2011 - 10:32 PM Chicago, IL (Sports Network) - Paul Maholm tossed a three-hitter and was backed by four home runs in the Pittsburgh Pirates' 10-0 rout of the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field.

Maholm (2-7) did not walk a batter and struck out four in his third career shutout and fifth career complete game. He threw just 91 pitches -- 66 for strikes -- and lowered his earned run average to 3.18.

The left-hander had not received much run support this season, a primary factor in his deceptive record, but got plenty of it Saturday.

Ronny Cedeno hit a three-run blast, Andrew McCutchen had a two-run homer, while Lyle Overbay and Chris Snyder slugged solo shots to help the Pirates to a second consecutive win. They withstood a ninth-inning rally Friday to beat Chicago, 4-2, in the opener to this three-game series.

"Welcome relief for him, and probably kind of kicked in some adrenaline for him that, 'Okay, I've got something to work with, I just need to take over and get these outs,'" said Pirates manager Clint Hurdle. "And that's what he did."

Pittsburgh scored five of its runs against Cubs starter Randy Wells (1-1), who was activated off the 15-day disabled list before the game. He had been sidelined since his first start of the season with a strained right forearm.

Wells pitched four innings, allowing five hits, walking three and striking out seven as Chicago lost for the fifth time in seven games.

The Pirates took control in the fourth inning, when McCutchen led off with a single and moved to third on Neil Walker's double. Two batters later, Steve Pearce got a pitch up in the zone and slapped it back up the middle to make it a 2-0 game.

Wells' troubles only got worse. He walked Snyder on four pitches well out of the strike zone, and threw his first pitch to Cedeno in the dirt. His next pitch was a hanging slider on the outer half of the plate, and the light- hitting infielder with a .354 career slugging percentage slammed the ball the opposite way, over the right-center field wall.

"I think the big thing for today was just the counts," Wells said. "I nibbled. Maybe kind of timid a little bit to get out there and cut it loose, and go after guys. Kind of buried myself getting behind guys."

The Pirates tacked on three more home runs against the Cubs' bullpen.

Two came in the sixth with James Russell on the mound. The reliever delivered a 2-0 fastball down the middle to Overbay, who extended for a leadoff shot deep over the center field wall. Snyder later pulled a solo blast to left.

In the seventh, Scott Maine walked leadoff batter Jose Tabata before retiring Garrett Jones on a fly out.

The left-hander then fell behind McCutchen and fired a fastball from his nearly side-arm slot. It crossed the plate on the left side, and the right- handed McCutchen put a strong swing on the ball, sending it to the bleachers in right-center field.

Jones hit an RBI double in the ninth, and Maholm worked around Darwin Barney's infield single in the bottom half to complete the shutout.

Maholm retired the first 13 batters he faced before Alfonso Soriano doubled. Lou Montanez followed with a single to short, but Maholm worked out of the jam by striking out Carlos Pena and getting Koyie Hill to fly out.

Game Notes

Pearce left the game in the fourth inning with right calf soreness...On Saturday, the Pirates placed reliever Joe Beimel on the 15-day disabled list with left elbow inflammation and recalled left-hander Daniel Moskos from Triple-A Indianapolis...The Cubs entered the game batting .315 against left- handed pitchers.