Pirates hang on, edge Cubs

Associated Press

CHICAGO

Octavio Dotel went to his best pitch when he got into trouble, and the Chicago Cubs couldn’t keep up.

Dotel escaped a jam in the ninth inning and Andrew McCutchen collected two more hits, leading the Pittsburgh Pirates to a 4-3 win over the Cubs on Saturday.

Jeff Clement hit a solo drive off closer Carlos Marmol in the ninth but the Cubs rallied against Dotel in the bottom half. Starlin Castro walked with one out and scored on Kosuke Fukudome’s triple.

With Fukudome on third and the infield in, Dotel struck out Ryan Theriot and Marlon Byrd for his seventh save in nine opportunities.

“You cannot let that run come in to home plate,” Dotel said. “After I get those guys with two strikes, if they’re going to score they’re going to do it against my best which is why I came back with my fastball.”

Paul Maholm, who pitched six effective innings for the win, had to turn away when the game got dicey in the ninth.

“I was in the dugout,” he said. “I just had my head down. I just kind of listened to the crowd to get the feel for it. He likes to make things interesting, he’s an interesting guy.”

Ryan Church hit a two-run double and McCutchen added an RBI single for Pittsburgh, which has won the first two games of the series after being swept by Cincinnati at home.

McCutchen went 2 for 3 with a walk after going 5 for 5 with a homer in Friday’s 10-6 victory. He is 11 for 14 against the Cubs this season.

Clement was in a 5-for-33 slump before connecting for his fourth homer.