Cubs' Gonzalez clobbers Vogelsong in Bucs' 9-1 loss

Carlos Zambrano tamed the Pirates' bats to snap a three-game win streak.
PITTSBURGH (AP) -- The Chicago Cubs have been making a lot of pitchers look very bad lately. Ryan Vogelsong just wishes they wouldn't keep doing it to him.
Alex Gonzalez homered, doubled and drove in four runs and the Cubs beat up on Vogelsong for the second time in a week, defeating the Pittsburgh Pirates 9-1 Tuesday night.
Corey Patterson, Todd Walker and Michael Barrett also homered to back Carlos Zambrano (2-0). The Cubs won for the fifth time in seven games and ended the Pirates' three-game winning streak.
Zambrano limited the Pirates to one run and seven hits, striking out four and walking two over eight innings. He beat Vogelsong (1-2) for the second straight start.
Vogelsong isn't the only pitcher struggling right now against the Cubs, who have scored at least eight runs in all but one of their last seven games. They have averaged 9.3 runs during that span.
"Potential is a dangerous word, but we have a lot of guys [who can hit]," Cubs manager Dusty Baker said. "You look up and down the lineup and everybody can hit the ball out of the ballpark. And different guys are taking their turns right now."
Key double
Gonzalez had only one RBI -- a pinch-hit homer April 11 -- until delivering a two-run double in a four-run first and a two-run homer in the fifth that made it 8-1.
Gonzalez is 7-for-13 the last three games after having only six hits in the first 21/2 weeks of the season.
"I had a rough beginning where I was hitting the ball right at guys and then you start putting a little pressure on yourself," he said. "I had to regroup and go back to what I was doing in spring training, and that's when they started dropping."
Patterson added a two-run homer in the big first inning and Walker had a solo shot as the Cubs again hit three homers off Vogelsong.
Vogelsong lasted three innings in an 8-3 loss last Wednesday, yielding homers to Sammy Sosa, Moises Alou and Aramis Ramirez. He was nearly as ineffective Tuesday in allowing nine runs and eight hits in five innings.
"He stunk. He just wasn't good," manager Lloyd McClendon said. "He started elevating his pitches early ... and that got him in trouble. He's not a polished pitcher yet, he's going to have his ups and downs, but there's no panic. We'll make him better."
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