Michael McKenry and Starling Marte homered to back a strong start by Jeff Karstens, and the Pittsburgh Pirates beat the Chicago Cubs 8-4 on Wednesday.
Garrett Jones added two hits and drove in three runs after entering in the eighth as a pinch-hitter. Andrew McCutchen chipped in with two hits and scored three times, and the Pirates pulled away late.
Clinging to a 2-1 lead, Pittsburgh started a five-run eighth with seven straight hits against Shawn Camp and sent 10 batters to the plate in the inning.
Jones, batting for Gaby Sanchez, drove in two with a single and McKenry made it 7-1 with a three-run drive to left -- his 10th homer. Just like that, the Pirates could breathe a little easier.
That late burst aside, it was a rather quiet day at Wrigley Field after a wild one on Tuesday. Not only did the Cubs trade pitcher Ryan Dempster to Texas before the non-waiver deadline, A.J. Burnett tossed a one-hitter for Pittsburgh.
Karstens (4-2) wasn't quite as dominant, but he sure was good. He allowed three hits and one run over five innings, striking out four and walking one.
He settled down after Starlin Castro's solo homer to left in the first and retired 10 of the final 11 batters he faced.
Chicago Baseball
Travis Wood (4-7) was a tough-luck loser and dropped his fourth straight start after winning four in a row. He gave up two runs and three hits over five innings, but two plays in the third cost him.
First, he gave up a leadoff homer to Marte. Then, the left-hander balked in another run to make it 2-1.
Otherwise, Wood pitched well enough, but the Cubs couldn't get anything going until the ninth. The Pirates brought in closer Joel Hanrahan with an 8-1 lead and he gave up three runs, including a two-run homer by Welington Castillo.
