The Pirates took two of three from a depleted Chicago Cubs team, riding seven straight hits against Shawn Camp in the eighth inning Wednesday to win 8-4.
The Cubs got on the board first with a solo shot by Starlin Castro, but the Pirates responded in the third with a solo homer of their own by another young "star," outfielder Starling Marte. They then followed with a run scored on a balk later that inning.
There wasn't any more scoring until the eighth inning, at which point the Pirates got seven straight hits. The third one of those was a two-run single by Garrett Jones, and the fifth one was a three-run homer by backup catcher Michael McKenry, who continued his remarkable season with his 10th jack of the year. The Bucs scored another run in the ninth on Jones' RBI double.
Joel Hanrahan came on in the ninth, despite the Pirates' 8-1 lead, because he hadn't pitched since July 27. He promptly gave up a double, and then a triple, and then finally a Welington Castillo three-run homer. The next batter, Luis Valbuena, singled to complete the reverse-cycle. But Hanrahan struck out three of the next four batters and ended the game with the Pirates still on top, 8-4.
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