The Pirates defeated the Cubs 4-0 in an afternoon game at Wrigley Field on Friday, thanks to some awful play by the Cubs.
Kevin Correia breezed through 7.1 easy innings for the Pirates, striking out two while walking two and allowing four hits. Meanwhile, the Bucs' offense benefited from a weak starting pitcher in Doug Davis, along with some poor defense by the Cubs.
In the second inning, the Pirates put the first two runners on with a walk by Chris Snyder and a single by Lyle Overbay that moved Snyder to third. Ronny Cedeno then inexplicably bunted, but an error by Davis left everyone safe. Correia then reached on an error by Cubs third baseman Aramis Ramirez, scoring Snyder, and Steve Pearce brought home another run with a sacrifice fly. The Pirates scored two more runs in the fourth as Davis walked three batters and hit a batter. Davis finished the game with 4.2 innings pitched and six walks.
Joe Beimel allowed a two-run homer by Alfonso Soriano with no outs in the ninth, but Joel Hanrahan entered the game and struck out the side for the save.
With the victory, the Pirates dropped the Cubs into fifth place in the N.L. Central, as the Pirates took over sole possession of fourth place.
Jose Tabata of the Pirates appeared to be injured in the first inning when he caught his cleat in the dirt while being tagged out at home, but he stayed in the game and appears to be fine.