thetenthinning3

PITTSBURGH -- The Chicago Cubs received another outstanding pitching performance as they extended their winning streak to four with a 4-1 victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates in front of 15,037 fans on a cold and windy Friday night at PNC Park.
Cubs' starter Matt Clement, pitching in front of his hometown fans, handcuffed the Pirates, giving up one run on two hits over seven innings of work. The Butler, Pa., native struck out 10 and upped his record to 2-1. It is the eighth time in his career Clement has registered a double-digit strikeout total and it marked the eighth time this season that the Cubs pitching staff has done it.

"Matty early was a little off, his control was off," Cubs manager Dusty Baker said. "He found it, it seemed like the more his arm got tired the better control he had cause his ball was moving all over the place.

"That was an outstanding performance, especially here in his hometown in front of his home folks. That was huge, he wanted it tonight, the way he was going after it. He made some quality pitches when he was in trouble, which is great."

"I want to win every time out there," Clement explained. "It's no different; I like throwing at this park. I had some awful outings at Three Rivers, back when it was up when I was younger."

Chicago jumped on Pittsburgh starter Kris Benson early and plated four runs in the first inning. Benson settled down after the rocky initial frame and pitched seven innings, allowing seven hits and four runs. With the loss, Benson is now 2-2 on the campaign.

Cubs second baseman Mark Grudzielanek led off the game with a single and advanced to third on a wild pickoff throw by Benson. Alex Gonzalez singled Grudzielanek home giving Chicago a 1-0 lead.

Right fielder Sammy Sosa singled and the Cubs had runners at first and second when Moises Alou drew a walk to load the bases. First baseman Hee Seop Choi slammed a two-run double off the right-field wall, scoring Gonzalez and Sosa, and giving the Cubs a 3-0 lead.

"That was a huge at-bat for 'Big Choi' today," Baker explained. "If he gets out of that, who knows what young Benson might have done? After that first inning, he shut us down, so that was a huge at-bat. He fouled off some tough pitches and he took some other close pitches."

Corey Patterson hit a sacrifice fly in the first, scoring Alou and staking the Cubs to a 4-0 lead.

Clement appreciated the early lead he was given.

"Four runs before you take the field is nice," Clement stated. "Especially against a guy like Benson, because that's not going to happen very often. We've been able to jump on some people early in the games and I think that's helped us a lot this year."

Pittsburgh clipped Cubs starter Mark Clement for a run in the second inning. Pirates' left fielder Reggie Sanders doubled and scored on a single by shortstop Jack Wilson.

Chicago tacked on three more runs in the ninth inning off Pirates reliever and former Cub Julian Tavarez. Mark Bellhorn singled and pinch-hitter Lenny Harris drew a walk. Bellhorn scored on a double by Mark Grudzielanek, and Alex Gonzalez followed with an RBI single, scoring Harris. Grudzielanek then scored on a groundout by Sosa.

Cubs reliever Joe Borowski gave up a solo home run to Reggie Sanders -- Sanders' fifth of the season -- to lead off the ninth inning, but Borowski closed it out as the Cubs won their fourth consecutive game for the first time since July 15, 2002.

This was the Cubs 11th win of the campaign, the club didn't win its 10th game last year until May 5 -- in its 29th contest.

"Last year is last year, it's over with," Baker stated. "It's a new year and we've got a new team here and a new attitude and we're just trying to win each day we go out there. Everybody is contributing and it's great to see our pitching doing so well and our offense doing so well at the same time and when you get both of those on the same day, boy you're going to win a lot of ballgames."