Cubs pelt Pirates, solidify lead

Pittsburgh lost its eighth straight, its longest losing streak of the season.

CHICAGO (AP) — Alfonso Soriano hit two of Chicago’s four homers and had five RBIs as the Cubs continued their late-season power display, beating the Pittsburgh Pirates 9-5 Saturday to solidify their lead in the NL Central.

The Cubs began the day with a 1 1/2-game lead over Milwaukee, which played later at Atlanta.

Soriano hit a solo shot to tie the game in the second and a two-run blast in the fifth for his team-leading 31st homer. The Cubs’ star has four home runs in three games and 13 in the 25 games since he came off the disabled list Aug. 28. He added a two-run double in the seventh.

Big hitters

Aramis Ramirez, who had two homers Friday, added another and Derrek Lee also went deep as the Cubs hit four homers for the second straight game, this time with the wind blowing in at Wrigley Field.

The Pirates lost their eighth straight, their longest losing streak of the season.

After hitting only 106 homers in the first five months of the season, the Cubs have connected for 36 in the first three weeks of September.

Pirates starter Zach Duke (3-8), making his second appearance and first start since June 28 after spending more than two months on the disabled list because of a sore left elbow, had been especially effective against the Cubs in his career.

He entered the game with a 4-1 record and 1.57 ERA against them but they jumped on him quickly, scoring in each of the first three innings.

The lefty lasted just four innings, giving up nine hits and five runs — four of them earned.

Rich Hill (10-8) got the win with five innings of work, yielding five hits and three runs.

Lee goes 4-for-5

Lee, who went 4-for-5, homered in the first. The Cubs then got three straight singles from Ramirez, Matt Murton and Geovany Soto. Soto’s ball ricocheted off the mound and went to second baseman Freddy Sanchez, who threw past first for an error allowing Ramirez to score to make it 2-0.

Pittsburgh got three runs in the top of the second with four hits, including an RBI double from Mat Kata and a two-run single past third from Duke.