Pirates 3, Cubs 0
MILWAUKEE -- A.J. Burnett threw seven scoreless innings as the Pittsburgh Pirates beat the Chicago Cubs 3-0 Sunday afternoon at Wrigley Field.
The Cubs came in having won six in a row but were stopped in their tracks by Burnett (3-1), who allowed three hits while striking out seven in his seven innings of work to earn his third consecutive victory.
He worked out of a bases-loaded jam in the fourth as he struck out right fielder Jorge Soler and escaped without damage when left fielder Starling Marte hauled in left fielder Chris Coghlan's fly at the wall in left.
Pittsburgh's offense finally gave him the slightest bit of breathing room when third baseman Josh Harrison reached on a one-out bloop double in the fifth, then scored on catcher Francisco Cervelli's single.
That would be all the Pirates could get off right-hander Jake Arrieta (4-4), who went seven innings and gave up five hits and a walk with seven strikeouts.
Left-hander Zac Rosscup came on in the eighth for Chicago. He gave up a leadoff single to Cervelli, who scored an insurance run two batters later on second baseman Neil Walker's RBI double.
Walker added another run when he scored on Marte's double, putting the Pirates up a pair.
Third baseman Kris Bryant extended his hitting streak to seven games with a first-inning single, but he left the game after four innings due to illness.
Chicago brought the tying run to the plate in the ninth, but right-hander Mark Melancon worked out of it for his eighth save of the year.
NOTES: LHP Travis Wood will remain in the Cubs' bullpen for the foreseeable future, manager Joe Maddon said Sunday morning. Wood had allowed 15 earned runs in three starts this month and was 2-2 with a 5.59 ERA this season. ... RHP Tsuyoshi Wada, whose rehab stint at Triple-A Iowa expired Sunday, could be a candidate to take Wood's spot in the rotation. ... Pirates RHP Vance Worley was available out of the bullpen Sunday. The Pirates are skipping his next scheduled start, which falls within a stretch of two games bookended by off-days. ... Jody Mercer was held out of the starting lineup for a third straight game. Manager Clint Hurdle said he was giving Mercer a mental break as he tries to get past a slow start. Mercer is batting .176 through his first 31 games this season. ... The Cubs have gone seven games without an error.