When Jeff Locke’s strong start fizzled out abruptly in the sixth inning Wednesday night, turning a healthy, three-run Pirates lead into a tie game, it was left up to the Pirates bats to ignite another rally. Gregory Polanco and Andrew McCutchen answered the call.
Polanco and McCutchen both homered and drove in two runs as the Pirates (62-44) snapped the Chicago Cubs’ six-game winning streak with a 7-5 victory at PNC Park, stretching their lead over the third-place Cubs (58-48) to four games.
McCutchen walked, homered, hit a sacrifice fly and scored twice, pushing his lifetime batting average against the Cubs to .