Pittsburgh-Chicago: Pirates Beat Cubs 6-5 in 11 Innings

Once again, the Cubs lost in extra innings by another Jason Bay single that scored Chris Gomez, giving the Pirates a 6-5 win in 11 innings.

With the Cubs leading 5-4, Carlos Marmol worked the ninth, getting two outs before Nate Mclouth hit a flyball towards the warning track in left field. As Alfonso Soriano came on to make the catch, he lost the ball in the sun and the ball bounced off the heel of his glove. As a result of the fielding blunder by Soriano, Brian Bixler was able to score the tying run, taking the game into extra innings. Soriano was not given an error on the play, and Mclouth was credited with a double.

Jon Lieber took the loss as he worked the 11th inning. He allowed a single to Chris Gomez, and then the Pirates' Brian Bixler bunted him over after a strikeout by Luis Rivas. After intentionally walking McLouth, Jason Bay came up and knocked in the game winning run on a single.

For the game, Aramis Ramirez went 2-5 with two RBI and Alfonso Soriano went 1-4 with a two-run home run in the third. Also, Henry Blanco went 2-5 with one RBI.

As for the Cubs' starter, Ted Lilly, he went six innings, allowing four earned runs on 10 hits while striking out two and walking two. Carlos Marmol blew his first save after giving up the tying run in the ninth.

The Pirates were lead by Louis Rivas who went 2-for-5 with two home runs, and Nate Mclouth, who went 3-for-5 with the double that tied the game. Xavier Nady went 1-for-5 with a home run in the 2nd, and Jason Bay went 2-for-5 with the game-winning RBI.

Starter Paul Maholm pitched eight innings, allowing five earned runs on eight hits while striking out seven. The win went to Damaso Marte who pitched one inning, striking out two batters in the top of the eleventh.

With the loss, the Cubs fell to 29-21, and 0.5 games back of the Cardinals, who are still playing as I write this.

Tomorrow, the Cubs will start a three-games series with the Los Angeles Dodgers. Pitching for the Cubs will be Ryan Dempster, who's 5-2 with a 2.70 ERA. Chad Billingsley, who's 4-5 with a 3.76 ERA, will be on the mound for the Dodgers. Game time is set for 1:20 pm CST.