Dillon Peters keyed a solid performance by Pittsburgh's bullpen and Kevin Newman had two hits, helping the Pirates beat the Chicago Cubs 4-3 on Sunday.
Peters (3-0) pitched 2 2/3 scoreless innings in relief of an ill JT Brubaker, providing the Pirates with a big lift after their 21-0 loss Saturday. The left-hander surrendered a hit for the first time this season - Jonathan Villar's fourth-inning single - but managed to run his opening scoreless streak to 10 1/3 innings over five appearances.
Heath Hembree surrendered Ian Happ's first homer of the season in the eighth, but David Bednar worked the ninth for his second save. Peters, Wil Crowe, Hembree, Chris Stratton and Bednar combined for six innings of one-run ball on a rainy afternoon that turned into partly cloudy skies by the end of the game.
Newman, Yoshi Tsutsugo and Ben Gamel each drove in a run for the Pirates, who took three of four in the series.
A day after it collected 23 hits during a historic romp, Chicago lost for the fifth time in six games overall. Villar committed a throwing error that brought home a run in the fourth, and the Cubs left 11 runners on base, including seven over the final three innings.
With runners on second and third in the ninth, Willson Contreras struck out swinging for the second out. After Happ was walked intentionally, Frank Schwindel also struck out swinging on three straight fastballs from Bednar - each registering at least 97.2 mph.
The Cubs got off to another solid start, scoring in the first inning for the third time in the series. They have 16 first-inning runs over 16 games this season.
Ortega scampered home on a rare error by slick-fielding third baseman Ke'Bryan Hayes, and Schwindel added an RBI single. But Brubaker limited the damage by striking out Villar and Jason Heyward.
Pittsburgh got one back on Gamel's RBI single in the second, and then went ahead to stay with two in the third against Justin Steele (1-2). Tsutsugo hit a sacrifice fly and Newman drove in Hayes with a tiebreaking double.
Marcus Stroman (0-2, 8.78 ERA) starts Tuesday night at Atlanta in the opener of a six-game trip. LHP Max Fried (1-2, 3.50 ERA) pitches for the Braves.
