Rookie Chris Duffy had four hits, including leadoff homers in the first and the ninth, to power the Pittsburgh Pirates to a 7-5 victory over the Cubs, who dropped into last place in the National League Central Division.

With the score tied at 5 in the ninth, Duffy smacked a 1-0 pitch from Scott Eyre (0-2) to left-center, his fourth hit of the game. Xavier Nady added a solo shot off Ryan Dempster one out later. Eyre had come in to get pinch-hitter Jeromy Burnitz in the eighth and struck him out.

"I threw a pitch down the middle, and he hit it," Eyre said of Duffy, who collected his first two career homers, and, obviously, his first career two-homer game. "You throw the ball down the middle of the plate, and that's what you're supposed to do."

The Cubs lefty admitted the adrenaline rush wasn't the same in the ninth as it had been in the eighth.

"I have to figure out a way to go out with the same intensity that I had when I first came into the game," Eyre said. "I sit down in the dugout and I sat there and I was looking around. I don't think I went back out with the same intensity, to be honest. That's my fault for not staying focused. I went out and made a bad pitch, plain and simple.

"It's all a matter of going out and concentrating on pitches," he said. "I know the scouting report on Duffy. He's a fastball hitter late in the game. So why did I throw him two in a row? Dumb. I made the mistake."

That's been a recurring theme for the Cubs.

"Every time someone makes a bad pitch this year, someone hurts us bad," Eyre said.

The Cubs also hurt themselves defensively. The Pirates had runners at first and second in the fourth when Jose Castillo hit a grounder to third baseman Aramis Ramirez, who threw to Freddie Bynum for the force at second. The runner was out, but Bynum dropped the ball and was unable to turn a double play. Humberto Cota then hit a sacrifice fly, and Shawn Chacon hit an RBI double and scored on Duffy's single to open a 5-0 lead for Pittsburgh.

"We gave away three or four runs early," Cubs manager Dusty Baker said. "We didn't turn that double play, and it led to three runs that inning, and the other one, [Sean Marshall] couldn't get over to first base with the same guy, Duffy, and he ends up scoring [in the third]. You just can't give away runs like that and expect to win."

The Cubs did rally. Ramirez hit a two-run homer in the fourth, his 32nd. One batter later, Angel Pagan was safe on a fielder's choice, and scored on rookie Scott Moore's first Major League hit, a double.

Pitcher Carlos Marmol, who had taken over for Marshall in the fifth, led off the Cubs half with his first big-league homer. He even tapped his heart and blew a kiss to the TV camera after getting back to the dugout, a la Sammy Sosa.

Moore then tied the score at 5 with his first Major League home run with one out in the sixth, hitting the first pitch of the inning from Chacon.

Someone in the crowd of 27,105 grabbed Moore's souvenir. This was the smallest crowd at Wrigley Field since 20,032 attended the game against Cincinnati on Sept. 26, 2002.

"It felt good, but you want to get the win," Moore said. "That's what matters most."

The rookie infielder has had a whirlwind week. He played for Double-A West Tenn all year until Sunday, when he was called up to Triple-A Iowa for one game. After that contest, he was told he was going to Chicago. In his first big-league at-bat on Monday, he was hit by a pitch and scored a run.

"After the first at-bat, the first night here, when I got hit, it was like, 'OK, here we go,'" Moore said. "I'm here to try to help the team win. After that first at-bat, the jitters were out and it's time to play."

Moore survived playing first base for the second time in his young pro career -- first time in the big leagues. It's sort of like extended Spring Training for the Cubs as they scout the youngsters on the roster.

"These guys aren't letting down," Baker said. "These guys have pride. Everybody here was a star where they came from. Everybody here is a professional. Everybody here wants to win.

"There's always something to play for," he said. "Guys feel badly when they don't come through. If there's a game out there, there doesn't have to be something at stake to play. The game is the game, whether it's in the park for free or out there."

In Baker's first season in 2003, the Cubs won the NL Central Division. This is the last year of his contract, and the team is in last place. Maybe he could flip the years?

"It's too late now," Baker said. "You can't flip 'em. You can't time it. If I could do that, I'd have a time machine. You just have to play it out."

This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.