September 7, 2006
BY ASSOCIATED PRESS
Chris Duffy hit his first two home runs of the season, including a
tiebreaking shot in the ninth inning, as the Pittsburgh Pirates defeated the
Chicago Cubs 7-5 on Thursday.
Duffy led off the ninth with a shot to center off Scott Eyre (0-2) for his
second homer of the day. For the day, the center fielder went 4-for-4 with three
RBIs and two stolen bases and three runs scored.
Jonah Bayless (1-0) got the last out in the eighth for his first career
victory. Salomon Torres pitched the ninth for his fourth save.
Duffy got things off to a quick start for the Pirates, hitting the second
pitch of the game from Sean Marshall into the right-field bleachers. That home
run was his first of the year, and just the second of his career in 353 at-bats.
Duffy was back at it again in the third, but this time playing small ball.
With two outs, he outraced Marshall to the bag on a grounder to the right of
first baseman Scott Moore, stole second and came around to score on a single by
Xavier Nady one batter later.
Pittsburgh added three more runs in the fourth thanks in large part to the
defensive sloppiness that has come to define the Cubs' season. With runners on
first and second, Jose Castillo bounced a grounder to third that should have
been a double play, but second baseman Freddie Bynum couldn't get a grip on the
relay throw and Chicago had to settle for one out.
Humberto Cota followed with a sacrifice fly to center, and, after a wild
pitch by Marshall moved Castillo to second, Chacon doubled into the right-field
corner to make it 4-0. Duffy then hit a hard grounder that Moore couldn't handle
for an RBI single.
Chicago responded in the bottom of the inning. Amaris Ramirez hit his 32nd
homer to cut the deficit to 5-2. After a single and fielder's choice, Moore
recorded his first major league hit, a double down the right-field line to make
it 5-3.
Carlos Marmol took over for Marshall in the fifth, and, after setting the
Pirates down in order, led off the bottom of the inning with his first career
homer, trimming the deficit to 5-4. Moore's homer tied it.
Marshall pitched four innings, allowing seven hits and five runs. He walked
two and struck out one.
Chacon went six innings, giving up eight hits and five runs. He walked two
and struck out four.
Nady hit his 16th homer for Pittsburgh's final run.
Notes: Danica Patrick threw out the first pitch and led the Wrigley
Field crowd in a rendition of "Take Me Out to the Ballgame" during the
seventh-inning stretch. She sported a home Cubs jersey with her car number, 16,
on the back. ... The crowd of 27,105 was the lowest at Wrigley since Sept. 26,
2002, vs. Cincinnati. ... SS Jack Wilson, who had missed 12 straight starts with
an ear infection, made his first start since Aug. 24. ... Ramirez's home run
broke an 0-for-15 slump. ... Duffy had two stolen bases to give him 19 for the
season.
Copyright 2006 Associated Press. All rights reserved.
