Chicago Cubs crush Pittsburgh Pirates with 5-1 win - MLB News
Chicago Cubs continued to maintain their dominance on Tuesday, July 24, as they beat the Pittsburgh Pirates 5-1 at PNC Park. The team’s starter outmanoeuvred the Pirates hitters with eight solid innings, paving the way for another majestic victory.
This was the second consecutive defeat for the Pirates after their five-game winning streak was previously snapped by the Cubs. Also, Maholm won his fifth start so far, becoming one of the leading pitchers in the League.
"I've made more than a few starts here and I enjoy pitching here," Maholm said of the ballpark. "Obviously, it's a pitcher-friendly park and if you make your pitches, it's going to work out well for a ground ball guy. I thought I did well and executed my pitches and it always help to get good defense and some runs to work with."
His performance was appreciated by the team manager Dale Sveum as well.
"He's been great," Chicago manager Dale Sveum said. "He's working in all four pitches and throwing them for strikes. He's not giving in to the other team. He's not doing anything he shouldn't be doing. He's well prepared and is executing his game plan.”
It was Starlin Castro who made a wonderful start for the Cubs with his 409 feet homer in the very first inning against James McDonald. As the Cubs secured 1-0 lead, the Pirates tried to stage a comeback.
Garrett Jones of the Pirates succeeded in levelling the score in the fourth inning with his solo homer, temporarily creating some kind of trouble for Maholm. However, he regained his composure, pitching ever stronger innings.
David DeJesus doubled to deep right in the fifth inning to take the lead to 3-1, also bringing the Cubs back in the game. Before McDonald – who has a 10-4 record in the season, could settle, Alfonso Soriano hit a two-run homer in the sixth to give a safe 5-1 lead to the Cubs.
Carlos Marmol came to pitch the ninth with great confidence, throwing a scoreless inning to wrap up the game with another win for the Cubs, having had his 12th save in the season.
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