The PIttsburgh Pirates five-game winning streak was snapped on Monday night as they dropped their series opener against the Chicago Cubs at PNC Park. Chicago starter Jeff Samardzija was simply dominant, shutting out the Bucs offense and leading the Cubs to the 2-0 win. Samardzija pitched eight innings and allowed just one hit while striking out five. It was one of the tidier performances you'll see, as Samardzija breezed through the eight innings in just 99 pitches. The bottom of the first was the only time he faced more than three batters in an inning.
Pittsburgh's Erik Bedard was pretty fantastic in his own right, but his offense could not provide the run support against Samardzija. Bedard struck out 11 and allowed just one run on two hits in seven innings of work. Starlin Castro drew a lead-off walk to start the fourth and then Alfonso Soriano stepped into the box and delivered one of the two Cubs hits against Bedard -- a double to deep center that scored Castro from first. Bedard was definitely the tough-luck loser.
Soriano would repeat the feat again in the top of the ninth. Castro led off the inning with a single against Chris Resop and Soriano knocked him in with another double to deep right centerfield. The insurance run was unnecessary, however, as Carlos Marmol came on and slammed the door.
James McDonald will try to even the series up on Tuesday against Paul Maholm.
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