t now," Beltre said. "All the injurries and stuff -- we stil

CHICAGO -- The Pirates had a four-run lead in the first inning and were up two runs after five. Both times the Cubs came back, with Starlin Castro providing much of the power. In the end, the Pirates were finally able to shut down Chicago. Pedro Alvarez had two hits and two RBIs, and Russell Martin drove in the go-ahead run on a sacrifice fly in the eighth inning as Pittsburgh beat the Cubs 7-6 on Tuesday night. Jason Grilli closed with a perfect ninth for his second save in three chances. "We just kept playing," Pirates manager Clint Hurdle said. "Its not about whats not happening. Its about what weve got to do next. Thats just the way we kept going. It was a fist fight off the mound for us most of the night. We executed extremely well in the first inning on offence and kept building innings." Cubs reliever Pedro Strop (0-1) walked two batters in the eighth and recorded only one out before being replaced by left-hander James Russell. Russell walked Alvarez to ................ the bases and Martin followed with a fly ball to right field that made it 7-6. "Had we laid down after the first inning, giving up four runs, I would have been extremely disappointed," Cubs manager Rick Renteria said. "But we didnt. We kept chipping away. I think thats what were talking about. We have to fight. We have to keep battling every day and if they keep doing that were going to get our situation where both sides of our game gets to where it needs to be." The Cubs tied the game in the seventh against Tony Watson (1-0) on Anthony Rizzos hit up the middle scoring Emilio Bonifacio, who went 3 for 5 and is batting .515. Castro hit a game-tying three-run homer in the third and a solo shot in the sixth against Pirates starter Charlie Morton for his first career multi-homer game. "The two pitches that they scored four of their runs on were just terrible pitches," Morton said of Castros homers. "It could have turned out a lot better had I executed a little bit better even instead of giving up a home run. The guys picked me up." Jackson gave up six runs on nine hits in 4 2-3 innings. Jackson struggled with his command, walking four (one intentional) and hitting a batter. Morton didnt fare much better allowing five runs on eight hits in six innings. Jacksons troubles began on the games first pitch with a lead-off double by Starling Marte. It sparked a four-run inning. Nine Pirates batted in the first. Alvarez doubled to score Marte and Andrew McCutchen for a 2-0 Pirates lead. Neil Walker added an RBI single and Travis Ishikawas sacrifice fly made it 4-0. Bonifacios two-out single to centre field in the second inning scored Ryan Sweeney from second base to cut the Pirates lead to 4-1. Jackson walked Marte and Travis Snider in the fourth to bring up McCutchen, who came through with an RBI single that made it 5-4. Ishikawas triple in the fifth scored Martin, who doubled to start the inning, and extended Pittsburghs lead to 6-4. "He played more of a supporting role, you can see hes being pitched more difficult," Hurdle said of McCutchen. "A lot of pitches, sequences, balls arent there to hit but when they crossed the plate a couple times today he squared up and hit them really hard. Hes a real good player." Renteria was ejected in the top of the ninth inning by home plate umpire Jeff Nelson for arguing balls and strikes. It was Renterias first ejection. Notes: Renteria said the Cubs are sticking with the five-man rotation as constructed meaning RHP Carlos Villanueva will stay in the rotation and not move back to the bullpen. . Cubs president of baseball operations Theo Epstein said he didnt have a problem with top prospect Javier Baezs recent ejection at Triple-A Iowa labeling it a "great development experience" for the 21-year-old shortstop. . Epstein said the Cubs are being cautious with Double-A Tennessee OF prospect Jorge Soler (sore right hamstring) by putting him on the seven-day disabled list. Soler aggravated his hamstring during the first minor league game of the season while running to second base on a double. . On the 40th anniversary of Hank Aaron hitting the 715th home run of his career to set an MLB record, Pirates manager Clint Hurdle fondly remembered the moment. "I wasnt watching at the start and my dad tried to tune in the radio because we were in Florida," Hurdle said. "We listened to a lot of the games on radio. As it turned out, it was a pretty magical moment." Andre Holmes Raiders Jersey .J. Barea during a three-game shooting slump that was getting him booed off his home court with regularity. Willie Brown Raiders Jersey . 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Robinson Chirinos hit an early three-run homer, Adrian Beltre connected again and Texas ended a six-game losing streak with a 5-3 victory over the New York Mets on Saturday night. "I know we finally won a ballgame, but weve got to win more than just today," manager Ron Washington said. Alex Rios had three hits, including an RBI double off longtime Texas nemesis Bartolo Colon in a four-run first, and Colby Lewis (6-5) pitched six steady innings to help the banged-up Rangers win for only the third time in 17 games. They snapped a 10-game skid on the road, their longest since a club-record slide of 12 games in 2003, with their first win away from home since June 16 in Oakland. "Its been a rough season and weve talked plenty about this, and its a shame that it happened to us with as good of a team that we were going to have," Rios said. "But we just have to go out and play like we did tonight, have fun and enjoy what we do." Travis dArnaud homered for the Mets, who have dropped five of six and eight of 10. David Wright had a double in four at-bats as he returned to the lineup after missing seven games with a bruised left rotator cuff. Colon (8-7) went seven innings but lost his second consecutive outing after going 6-0 with a 1.58 ERA in his previous seven starts. The 41-year-old right-hander fell to 20-9 in 34 starts against the Rangers, his most wins against any team and the most by any pitcher vs. Texas. The first inning has been a bugaboo for Colon all season. "I have no idea why," he said through a translator. "I was just having trouble getting my pitches where I wanted them that first inning." Lewis allowed three runs -- two earned -- and eight hits. He struck out seven, walked none and pitched around Wrights leadoff double in the fifth, retiring his final six batters to protect a two-run lead. The right-hander has lasted at least six innings in three straight starts, compiling 21 strikeouts and no walks during that stretch. Shawn Tolleson escaped an eighth-inning jam after Texas turned Juan Lagares hard grounder into a double play. Joakim Soria, pitching for the first time in six days, worked a one-hit ninth for his 16th save in 17 chances. "Were supposed to be winning more ballgames right now," Beltre said. "All the injurries and stuff -- we still have a pretty good team, and we shouldnt be losing as much as weve been.dddddddddddd No excuse. We should be playing better, and thats what we expect." Elvis Andrus and Rios hit consecutive doubles in the first to put Texas ahead. Colon had a chance to get out of the inning down by only one, but Chirinos drove a 1-2 pitch the other way to right-centre for his eighth home run. He has six homers and 15 RBIs in his last 20 games. Beltre, who also homered Friday in the Rangers first visit to Citi Field, made it 5-0 in the third with his sixth career home run off Colon. Curtis Granderson hit an RBI double, and Bobby Abreu had a run-scoring single in the bottom half, but Lewis limited the damage. With the bases loaded, Wright flied out to shallow centre, Lucas Duda struck out, and Lagares grounded out. "Just fell short tonight," said dArnaud, who hit a leadoff homer in the fourth. Chirinos was a bit shaken up in the fifth when a foul ball hit him in the mask. After a trainer and Washington came out for a look, Chirinos and his manager playfully shoved each other before the catcher returned to his spot behind the plate. "Were not out of this thing," Lewis said. "Its only the All-Star break, so you never know what can kind of happen." NOTES: The Mets said right-handed reliever Buddy Carlyle was on his way from Triple-A Las Vegas to New York, and manager Terry Collins confirmed "there is a possibility" left-hander Jonathon Niese will be placed on the disabled list with shoulder trouble. "We will make the announcement (Sunday)," Collins said. "We are going to wait to see when he gets in here, how he is doing." ... The Rangers fielded a different lineup for the 20th straight game. Theyve used 45 players this season, most in the majors and one shy of their total from last year. ... Washington said he would encourage Yu Darvish to participate in the All-Star game if the Japanese right-hander is chosen for the AL roster on Sunday -- but he doesnt want his ace throwing more than 20 pitches. Darvishs next scheduled start is Wednesday against Houston. ... Texas 1B Carlos Pena snapped an 0-for-20 slump with an eighth-inning double. He is 4 for 36 (.111) since getting called up from Triple-A Round Rock on June 24. ... Wright extended his hitting streak to 11 games. ... RHP Nick Tepesch (3-3) starts the series finale Sunday against Mets RHP Zack Wheeler (3-8). China Jerseys wholesale jerseys ' ' '