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Cubs record six homers, 21 hits in rout of Pirates

Aug 3, 2011 - 4:36 AM Pittsburgh, PA (Sports Network) - The blasts began with Tyler Colvin's moonshot into the Allegheny River, and they didn't seem to stop. Aramis Ramirez, Geovany Soto, Alfonso Soriano, Marlon Byrd. Soriano again.

The six home runs, all of which came in the first four innings, propelled the Cubs to an 11-6 victory against the Pirates on Tuesday.

Chicago totaled 21 hits, its most since tallying 23 in an April 4, 2005 game against Arizona. The Cubs also hadn't hit six home runs since September 17, 2006 against Cincinnati, when they chased Reds starter Eric Milton after only one out.

Pittsburgh starter Kevin Correia (12-9) hung around only a little longer Tuesday. He was trying to notch his 13th win of the season, which would have tied him for the National League lead.

But the right-hander didn't come close to getting the victory, giving up four homers and eight runs in two-plus innings. He gave up 10 hits in his shortest start of the year.

It was also Correia's worst start of 2011, as he set season highs in homers and runs allowed. He gave up four homers for the first time since 2003, when he was a rookie.

"It was obviously a terrible outing. It was embarrassing," Correia said. "But I can't really sit around and mope about it. We can't mope right now. When it comes down to it, it counts as one loss."

Pittsburgh got two home runs from Garrett Jones and a two-run shot from Brandon Wood. But the blasts weren't nearly enough to keep the Pirates from losing for the seventh time in eight games.

Jones' first homer gave Pittsburgh a 2-1 lead after the first inning, but the Cubs soon took control with long drives. And they were long. Chicago didn't just hit a lot of homers; it hit deep ones.

Colvin was the first to do so. He entered Tuesday's game hitting .107, but strode to the plate with one away in the second and turned on an inside fastball, sending it high and deep down the right field line. The ball splashed down in the river to tie the game.

Later in the inning, Ramirez came to the plate with two on and crushed a first-pitch curveball over the center field fence.

Then in the third, Byrd singled before Soto sent a hanging slider into the detailed shrubbery beyond the center field wall, making it a 7-2 game. Soriano followed with a homer to left to end Correia's outing.

Chicago continued its attack against Tony Watson in the fourth, when Byrd and Soriano hit solo shots to left.

"He was unbelievably aggressive tonight," Cubs manager Mike Quade said of Soriano.

Chicago held a 10-2 lead at that point and added another run in the seventh, when Colvin doubled and scored on Starlin Castro's base hit.

The offense benefited Cubs starter Randy Wells (3-4), who limited the Pirates to two runs in six innings and struck out seven. It also provided enough cushion for the Cubs to withstand the Pirates' late rallies.

Jones began the eighth with his second homer of the game, and Wood added a pinch-hit blast later in the inning to pull Pittsburgh within 11-5. Jones tacked on a sacrifice fly in the ninth before John Grabow recorded the final out.

Game Notes

Ramirez leads the majors with 10 first-pitch homers. He also drove in Chicago's first run with an RBI single in the first inning...Correia also gave up four homers on September 21, 2003, when he pitched for the Giants and was facing the Dodgers...Byrd scored twice to increase his career run total to 501. He is one hit shy of 1,000...Pittsburgh center fielder Andrew McCutchen, singled in the first inning, has reached base in his last 26 games vs. the Cubs.