CHICAGO -- The Pirates had a four-run lead in the first inning and were up two runs after five. Mario Addison Jersey . Both times the Cubs came back, with Starlin Castro providing much of the power. In the end, the Pirates were finally able to shut down Chicago. Pedro Alvarez had two hits and two RBIs, and Russell Martin drove in the go-ahead run on a sacrifice fly in the eighth inning as Pittsburgh beat the Cubs 7-6 on Tuesday night. Jason Grilli closed with a perfect ninth for his second save in three chances. "We just kept playing," Pirates manager Clint Hurdle said. "Its not about whats not happening. Its about what weve got to do next. Thats just the way we kept going. It was a fist fight off the mound for us most of the night. We executed extremely well in the first inning on offence and kept building innings." Cubs reliever Pedro Strop (0-1) walked two batters in the eighth and recorded only one out before being replaced by left-hander James Russell. Russell walked Alvarez to load the bases and Martin followed with a fly ball to right field that made it 7-6. "Had we laid down after the first inning, giving up four runs, I would have been extremely disappointed," Cubs manager Rick Renteria said. "But we didnt. We kept chipping away. I think thats what were talking about. We have to fight. We have to keep battling every day and if they keep doing that were going to get our situation where both sides of our game gets to where it needs to be." The Cubs tied the game in the seventh against Tony Watson (1-0) on Anthony Rizzos hit up the middle scoring Emilio Bonifacio, who went 3 for 5 and is batting .515. Castro hit a game-tying three-run homer in the third and a solo shot in the sixth against Pirates starter Charlie Morton for his first career multi-homer game. "The two pitches that they scored four of their runs on were just terrible pitches," Morton said of Castros homers. "It could have turned out a lot better had I executed a little bit better even instead of giving up a home run. The guys picked me up." Jackson gave up six runs on nine hits in 4 2-3 innings. Jackson struggled with his command, walking four (one intentional) and hitting a batter. Morton didnt fare much better allowing five runs on eight hits in six innings. Jacksons troubles began on the games first pitch with a lead-off double by Starling Marte. It sparked a four-run inning. Nine Pirates batted in the first. Alvarez doubled to score Marte and Andrew McCutchen for a 2-0 Pirates lead. Neil Walker added an RBI single and Travis Ishikawas sacrifice fly made it 4-0. Bonifacios two-out single to centre field in the second inning scored Ryan Sweeney from second base to cut the Pirates lead to 4-1. Jackson walked Marte and Travis Snider in the fourth to bring up McCutchen, who came through with an RBI single that made it 5-4. Ishikawas triple in the fifth scored Martin, who doubled to start the inning, and extended Pittsburghs lead to 6-4. "He played more of a supporting role, you can see hes being pitched more difficult," Hurdle said of McCutchen. "A lot of pitches, sequences, balls arent there to hit but when they crossed the plate a couple times today he squared up and hit them really hard. Hes a real good player." Renteria was ejected in the top of the ninth inning by home plate umpire Jeff Nelson for arguing balls and strikes. It was Renterias first ejection. Notes: Renteria said the Cubs are sticking with the five-man rotation as constructed meaning RHP Carlos Villanueva will stay in the rotation and not move back to the bullpen. . Cubs president of baseball operations Theo Epstein said he didnt have a problem with top prospect Javier Baezs recent ejection at Triple-A Iowa labeling it a "great development experience" for the 21-year-old shortstop. . Epstein said the Cubs are being cautious with Double-A Tennessee OF prospect Jorge Soler (sore right hamstring) by putting him on the seven-day disabled list. Soler aggravated his hamstring during the first minor league game of the season while running to second base on a double. . On the 40th anniversary of Hank Aaron hitting the 715th home run of his career to set an MLB record, Pirates manager Clint Hurdle fondly remembered the moment. "I wasnt watching at the start and my dad tried to tune in the radio because we were in Florida," Hurdle said. "We listened to a lot of the games on radio. As it turned out, it was a pretty magical moment." Cam Newton Panthers Jersey . Free agent John Axford, who had 46 saves for Milwaukee in 2011 but has struggled the past two seasons, agreed to a one-year, $4. Kelvin Benjamin Jersey .J. -- If people were looking for Richard Sherman to get the weeklong hype for the Super Bowl started with another rant, the Seattle cornerback disappointed them.WASHINGTON -- Fabian Espindola scored his team-leading seventh goal of the season to lead D.C. United to a 1-0 victory over Sporting Kansas City on Saturday. Bill Hamid made five saves to preserve his third shutout and D.C.s fifth this season. Uniteds victory was their first over Sporting since a 2-1 win on May 5, 2010, with Kansas City winning six matches and drawing one since. Sporting (5-5-4) had its winless streak stretched to five matches as United (6-4-3) climbed past them into second place in the Eastern Conference. Already without American World Cup call-ups Matt Besler and Graham Zusi, Kansas City lost defender Aurelien Collin in the eighth minute with an apparent recurrence of a right hamstring injury. Collin previously missed two matches with the same injury earlier this month, and was replaced Saturday by 17-year-old Erik Palmer-Brown, the leagues youngest current player. United also lost defender Chris Korb to an apparent leg injury in the 34th minute. But forward EEddie Johnson was allowed to start after the league waived his red card from last weeks match at New England and the resulting suspension. Kelvin Benjamin Black Friday Jersey. D.C. substitute Alex Caskey was sent off in the fourth minute of second-half stoppage time for his late, dangerous challenge on Kansas Citys Kevin Ellis. Ellis was also involved in a post-match scrum, with Sporting coach Peter Vermes having to briefly restrain the defender. Espindola scored in the 28th minute on his long, left-footed strike from outside the penalty area that appeared to be a cross aimed at Johnson. Instead, it sailed beyond stranded Kansas City goalkeeper Eric Kronberg and into the net for Espindolas third goal in three matches. Kansas City had chances to tie after halftime. In the 63rd minute, Jacob Peterson reached Benny Feilhabers cross but headed it wide of Hamids right post. Then Hamid made a reaction save on his left post to turn away substitute Soony Saads whistling shot in the 78th minute. ' ' '
