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Pirates sweep Cubs, who have lost 12 straight

May 27, 2012 - 11:51 PM Pittsburgh, PA (Sports Network) - Pedro Alvarez hit a three-run homer and had four RBI as the Pittsburgh Pirates completed a three-game sweep of the Chicago Cubs with a 10-4 victory on Sunday at PNC Park.

Garrett Jones smashed a two-run homer and Andrew McCutchen added a solo shot, while Gorkys Hernandez had a two-run single and Neil Walker added an RBI base hit for the Pirates, who swept a series for the first time this season.

Erik Bedard (3-5) went six shutout innings and allowed just two hits and four walks while fanning three to pick up the win.

"We got a bit of mixed bag from Erik early," Pirates manager Clint Hurdle said. "But, when push came to shove, he made pitches when he needed to and kept the ball out of the middle of the plate. So, overall, job well done."

Starlin Castro ripped a two-run homer and Darwin Barney added an RBI double for the Cubs, who dropped their 12th straight and are just two losses shy of tying a franchise-worst 14-game skid.

Matt Garza (2-3) was tagged for six runs -- five earned -- on seven hits and a walk while fanning six to absorb the loss in five-plus innings.

Pittsburgh opened the scoring in its first at-bat. Jose Tabata began the inning with a base hit. Josh Harrison reached on an error, which allowed Tabata to get to third to put runners on second and third with no outs. Tabata was then thrown out at home on McCutchen's fielder's choice grounded out, but Alvarez followed and crushed a fastball from Garza to right-center field to give the Pirates a 3-0 advantage.

The Bucs extended their lead to 4-0 in the fifth when McCutchen ripped a fastball from Garza over the wall in left.

Pittsburgh essentially put the game out of reach in the sixth by plating six runs to extend the cushion to 10-0. Walker drew a free pass to start things and Jones followed by blasting a Garza offering into the right field seats to make it 6-0. Rafael Dolis was summoned from the bullpen and walked the only two hitters he face. He was quickly pulled in favor of Michael Bowden. Bedard moved both runners up with a sacrifice bunt and Hernandez ripped a pinch-hit RBI single to score Saturday's walk-off hero Matt Hague.

The inning continued for the Bucs as Harrison walked and McCutchen beat out an infield single before Alvarez brought home Hernandez with a sac-fly and Walker plated Harrison with a base hit into left.

Chicago finally got on the scoreboard in the eighth when Koyie Hill started the inning with a single and Blake Lalli followed with a base hit before Tony Campana grounded out, which allowed Hill to score. Castro then crushed a 1-0 fastball from Chris Resop into the foliage beyond center field to pull the Cubs within 10-3.

Barney launched a double down the right field line to plate Jeff Baker from second to make it 10-4, but Juan Cruz settled down and got Hill to fly out before Lalli grounded out to second to end the game.

"We didn't score again off their starter," Cubs manager Dale Sveum said. "Three runs really isn't that big of a deal, we just didn't muster up really anything today."

Game Notes

The Cubs concluded a six-game, seven-day road trip without a win and haven't been on the winning side of things since May 14...Chicago's losing streak reached 12-or-more games for just the seventh time in franchise history...The Cubs finished 2-for-7 with runners in scoring position, while Pittsburgh went 4-for-8 with runners in scoring position...McCutchen (2-for-4) reached base for the 34th consecutive game against Chicago.