Paul Skenes pitched five effective innings while struggling with his location, and the Pittsburgh Pirates handed the Chicago Cubs another tough loss with a 5-0 victory on Tuesday night.
Skenes worked out of bases-loaded jams in the first two innings. The rookie right-hander allowed four hits and walked four - matching his season high - but the No. 1 overall pick in last year's amateur draft struck out six.
After Skenes (9-2) departed, Colin Holderman, Carmen Mlodzinski and David Bednar combined for four innings of one-hit ball.
Chicago had won six in a row - all on the road - before losing the first two in its three-game series against Pittsburgh at Wrigley Field. The Cubs are 4 1/2 games back in the race for the final NL wild card after Atlanta beat Colorado 3-0 on Tuesday night.
Chicago right-hander Kyle Hendricks (3-11) struck out five while pitching five innings of two-run ball. He got the start after Justin Steele was scratched because of elbow soreness.
Pittsburgh RHP Domingo Germán (0-0, 6.11 ERA) makes his second start of the season against LHP Shota Imanaga (11-3, 3.14 ERA) on Wednesday night. The winning team takes the season series, which is knotted at 6-6.
