, starting for the first time this season in place of injured Yu Darvish, retired the first 13 batters before giving up a sharp single to Corey Dickerson with one out in the fifth. He struck out five and needed just 76 pitches to get through 5 2/3 innings. Montgomery struck out five without allowing a walk.Rizzo hit his seventh home run in the second off Chad Kuhl (4-3) to give the Cubs an early lead. Addison Russell gave Chicago breathing room in the seventh with the second pinch-hit home run of his career, a shot to the bleachers in left off reliever Steven Brault that stayed just inside the foul pole.Kuhl gave up just one run in six innings, but fell to 1-5 in his career against the Cubs. Dickerson's single and Sean Rodriguez's infield hit leading off the sixth were the only two base runners for Pittsburgh. The Pirates have dropped eight of 10.The Cubs arrived in Pittsburgh at 4 a.m. local time following a victory over San Francisco in Chicago on Sunday night. Manager Joe Maddon wondered openly before the game why the start time wasn't pushed until later in the day, but the well-rested Montgomery, who has worked exclusively in the bullpen this season, was more than ready to go.Pittsburgh managed to get the ball out of the infield five times with Montgomery on the mound, four harmless fly outs and Dickerson's single, though any threat was erased when David Freese hit into a double play.Russell's second home run of the season made it 3-0 and the Cubs loaded the bases with no outs in the eighth, leading to a sequence that got Pirates manager Clint Hurdle ejected. Chicago's Chris Gimenez hit a grounder to shortstop. Sean Rodriguez threw home for one out, but catcher Elias Diaz threw wildly to first attempting to turn two. The ball rolled into right field, with Javy Baez and Kyle Schwarber racing home to give the Cubs a five-run lead.The Pirates challenged the call after replay showed Rizzo sliding into Diaz's legs as Diaz attempted to make the throw. It stood upon review, and when Hurdle came out to argue, he was promptly tossed by home plate umpire Bill Welke.TRAINER'S ROOMCubs: Utility player Ian Happ pinch hit in the seventh inning, his first appearance since exiting Saturday's loss to San Francisco with right shoulder soreness after making a diving stop.Pirates: They shut down closer Felipe Vazquez for the day as a precaution. Vazquez complained of discomfort in his left forearm after blowing a third consecutive save opportunity in a loss to St. Louis on Sunday. Director of sports medicine Todd Tomczyk said tests done after the game did not find any structural damage. ... C Francisco Cervelli was held out of the lineup for a second straight day due to flu-like symptoms.UP NEXTCubs: Jon Lester (4-2, 2.37 ERA) will make his 14th career start against the Pirates. Lester is 5-5 with a 3.50 ERA when facing Pittsburgh.Pirates: Rookie Nick Kingham (2-1, 3.44 ERA) will make his fourth career start on Tuesday. Kingham is filling in for Ivan Nova, who was placed on the 10-day disabled list Monday with a sprained ring finger on his right (throwing) hand.---More baseball: https://apnews.com/tag/MLBbaseball)
Cubs-Pirates Preview 10m ago• 3 min read So far, not so good for the Pittsburgh Pirates in what could be a telling stretch of 10 games against fellow National League Central contenders.Going into a series opener Monday against the Chicago Cubs at PNC Park, Pittsburgh has lost seven of nine, including two in a row against St. Louis in a three-game home series.It's the first time the Pirates have lost two in a row against a divisional opponent -- and there are more of those games upcoming. After three against the Cubs, Pittsburgh goes to St. Louis for four more against the Cardinals.The Pirates are struggling to get all parts of their game going at once. On Sunday, their bullpen faltered as they blew a three-run lead in a 6-4 loss to the Cardinals."You give these young men an opportunity to pitch. To think they're going to pitch perfect, clean innings for an entire season, you're pretty naive," Pittsburgh manager Clint Hurdle said of his young bullpen."There are going to be challenges the league's going to throw at them, that hitters are going to throw at them." In addition, after Sunday's game it was learned that closer Felipe Vazquez, who had his third blown save in as many opportunities, has left forearm discomfort.The Pirates already were without catcher Francisco Cervelli, who had flu symptoms, and starter Ivan Nova is questionable for his Tuesday turn against the Cubs because of a ligament problem in his pitching index finger.Pittsburgh (28-24) has exceeded many predictions by contending in the NL Central through two months but has fallen to fourth.The Pirates will have one advantage Monday over the third-place Cubs (27-22). Chicago played a national TV game Sunday night -- an 8-3 win over San Francisco, breaking open a game that was tied 3-3 after the first inning -- and had to then travel late that night and play an early afternoon game on the Memorial Day holiday.Chicago had lost three of four before Sunday.Chicago left-hander Mike Montgomery (0-1, 5.33 ERA) is scheduled to face Pittsburgh right-hander Chad Kuhl (4-2, 4.20) on Monday.Montgomery will be making a spot start. He has pitched 25 1/3 innings in relief, the most among Chicago relievers.The Cubs' rotation is in upheaval with Yu Darvish going on the 10-day disabled list because of right triceps tendinitis.Originally, Tyler Chatwood was on target to start Monday, but he filled in for Darvish on Sunday night.Montgomery last season was 5-5 with a 4.15 ERA in 14 starts. He was supposed to get a start May 19, but it was wiped out because of a rain postponement a couple of nights earlier that changed the rotation."It's a long year," Montgomery said then. "The next time something pops up, I'll be ready for that, too." Darvish's injury has popped up, but Montgomery already was tailoring himself to be called upon should a starting spot open."I have to put myself in a position to be in that conversation, and I've done that the last couple of weeks," he said. "To keep doing that moving forward is what I'm focused on." Montgomery is 1-0 with a 1.98 ERA in six career appearances (one start) against Pittsburgh.Kuhl is 3-1 in his past seven starts. At PNC Park, he is 2-0 with a 4.28 ERA in five starts, with the Pirates 4-1 in those games.One of those no-decisions and team wins came Wednesday, when Pittsburgh beat Cincinnati 5-4 in 12 innings. Kuhl pitched six-plus innings, giving up one run (on a homer) and five hits with six strikeouts and one walk.Against the Cubs, Kuhl is 1-4 with an 8.23 ERA in seven career starts.
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