Neil Walker hits 1st homer, lead Pirates past Cubs 3-2

[madinmaryland]

PITTSBURGH (AP) -- Neil Walker hit his first major league home run to put the Pirates ahead in the eighth and Pittsburgh beat the Chicago Cubs for the seventh time this season, 3-2 on Tuesday night.

Walker, who grew up in Pittsburgh's suburbs and was the Pirates' first-round draft choice in 2004, hit a 0-1 pitch from Ted Lilly (1-5) into the seats in the deepest part of the ballpark in left-center with Andrew McCutchen on and one out.

The Pirates improved to 7-1 against the Cubs this season - they're 15-30 against everyone else - and have won nine of their past 10 against Chicago overall.

Xavier Nady - one of several backups in the Cubs lineup - had four hits, including his third home run, but Chicago lost for the fourth time in five games.

Pittsburgh's Garrett Jones homered for the second consecutive day, Joel Hanrahan (2-1) pitched a perfect top of the eighth and Octavio Dotel worked the ninth for his 12th save in 14 opportunities - his ninth successful conversion in a row.

Read More: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/baseball/mlb/gameflash/2010/06/01/31133_recap.html

:D

Too bad we can't play the Cubs for the rest of the season!

[Bluzmann57]

1. In reality, the Cubs suck.

I am a hardcore Cubs fan and I say that it may be time to tear things down and start again. Quickly. How in the hell do the Pittsburgh Pirates continuously beat the Cubs? Arrrggghhh!
And why can't the Cubs follow the Blackhawks lead and build a team that looks like it may be built for the long haul? Anyway, it would be sort of cool to see the Pirates at least finish .500. They won't, but it'd be all right.

[PRETZEL]

2. Good for him,

Local kid who has done everything this organization has asked him to do.

Went from catcher to third, then when they drafted Alverez, asked him to learn to play second.

Now that we know that Aki decided he liked Tampa way much more than Pittsburgh, it's time to DFA him and let Walker have his shot.