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McCutchen, Volquez help Pirates blank Cubs

Pittsburgh,  PA (SportsNetwork.com)  - Andrew  McCutchen continued  his recent tear,  going 2-for-4  with two RBI and  a run scored as the Pittsburgh Pirates beat the Chicago Cubs, 4-0, in the finale of a four-game series.

McCutchen,  who had homered in three straight games, had two doubles to extend his  hitting  streak to eight  games. The reigning  National League MVP has 15 extra-base hits this month (nine doubles and six homers).

Jordy Mercer and Russell Martin each knocked in a run for the Pirates, who won three  of  the games in this  set to finish  a seven-game homestand with a 4-3 mark.

Pittsburgh  starter  Edinson Volquez  (4-5)  tossed  seven scoreless  innings, giving  up seven hits  while striking out five and walking two. He improved to 6-0 lifetime against the Cubs.

Jeff  Samardzija  (2-6) allowed four  runs on  nine hits with seven strikeouts over six-plus innings for Chicago, which has lost four of five.

"Probably  the  most impressive  [aspect] was  the way we  were able to battle against  one  of the best pitchers  in the league throughout the lineup," said Pirates  manager Clint Hurdle. "The at-bats, we were able to stretch him out a little bit."

The  Pirates almost got on the board in the third. Clint Barmes led off with a double and moved to third on a sacrifice bunt, but was thrown out at the plate when  Gregory Polanco  flied out to right. Nate Schierholtz made a great throw and John Baker applied the tag to keep it a scoreless game.

Pittsburgh  did score  during its  next at-bat.  McCutchen doubled  to center, advanced  to third  on Ike  Davis' single  and crossed  the plate  on Martin's ground-rule  double  down  the  right-field  line.  After  Pedro  Alvarez  was intentionally  walked to load the bases, Mercer hit a sacrifice fly to center. The  home team filled  the bags again before Volquez struck out looking to end the inning.

The home team tacked on two more runs in the fifth. Polanco and Starling Marte hit  consecutive  singles. Both runners  scored on McCutchen's double to left-center field. McCutchen was tagged out at third.

"Jeff  had really good  life to his pitches, but his command didn't seem to be as good as he has been previously," said Cubs manager Rick Renteria.

The Cubs left men on second and third in the fifth and sixth frames.

Pittsburgh  pitcher  Tony Watson struck out  the side in the eighth, extending his scoreless streak to 21 2/3 innings.

                                   Game Notes

Pittsburgh  improved  to 7-3 against the Cubs this season ... The Pirates had seven  doubles  ... Chicago went 0-for-8  with runners in scoring position and stranded  eight  ... The start  of the game was  delayed 21 minutes because of rain,  and play was  stopped again in the seventh for one hour, 14 minutes ... Samardzija  fell  to 4-4 lifetime  against the Pirates ... Pittsburgh selected the  contract of  infielder Michael Martinez from Triple-A Indianapolis before the  game  and optioned pitcher Casey  Sadler to Indianapolis ...Cubs leadoff batter  Emilio Bonifacio left in the first inning with a right rib cage injury and did not return ... The Pirates go to Miami for a three-game series against the  Marlins starting  Friday ...  The Cubs  continue a  10-game road  trip in hiladelphia, where they will start a three-game series on Friday.

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