Major League Baseball
BOXSCORE | RECAP
Pittsburgh 5, Chi. Cubs 0
When: 4:05 PM ET, Saturday, September 6, 2014
Where: Wrigley Field, Chicago, Illinois
Temperature: 72°
Umpires: Home - Dan Bellino, 1B - Jeff Kellogg, 2B - Chad Whitson, 3B - Brian O'Nora
Attendance: 36867

Pirates 5, Cubs 0: Francisco Liriano struck out nine over six innings and Jordy Mercer homered and drove in two runs as Pittsburgh beat host Chicago for the second straight game.

Andrew McCutchen went 3-for-5 with an RBI for the Pirates, who also beat the Cubs 5-3 in 11 innings earlier in the day in the conclusion of a game that was suspended Friday. Liriano (4-10) limited the Cubs to three hits and two walks, and two relievers bridged the gap to Brandon Cumpton, who worked around a pair of hits in the ninth as Pittsburgh moved within a half-game of Milwaukee and Atlanta for the second wild card in the National League.

Mike Olt doubled for the only extra-base hit for the Cubs, who managed just six hits. Chicago left-hander Felix Doubront (3-5) was tagged with the loss, allowing two runs and five hits over five innings.

The Pirates jumped on Doubront early, as Starling Marte led off the game with a single, moved up on a wild pitch and scored on Mercer's single. Gaby Sanchez's groundout in the third brought home another run for a 2-0 lead.

McCutchen singled home Chase d'Arnaud in the seventh, and the Pirates tacked on another insurance run an inning later on Chris Stewart's run-scoring single. Mercer made it a 5-0 cushion in the ninth, cranking an 0-2 fastball from Arodys Vizcaino out to left-center for his 10th homer.

GAME NOTEBOOK: The Pirates have allowed three or fewer runs in 12 of their last 15 games. … Pirates 3B Josh Harrison did not play after rolling his left ankle in the 11th inning of the conclusion of Friday's game. … Vizcaino made his Chicago debut in his first major-league appearance since 2011.

Top Game Performances
Starting Pitchers
Pittsburgh   Chi. Cubs
Francisco Liriano Player Felix Doubront
Win W/L Loss
6.0 IP 5.0
9 Strikeouts 1
3 Hits 5
0.00 ERA 3.60
Hitting
Pittsburgh   Chi. Cubs
Andrew McCutchen Player Ryan Kalish
3 Hits 1
1 RBI 0
0 HR 0
3 TB 1
.600 Avg 1.000
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Hits HR TB Avg LOB K RBI BB SB Errors
Pittsburgh 11 1 15 .297 23 7 5 5 0 0
Chi. Cubs 6 0 7 .188 13 11 0 3 0 1