In his 1st start of the season, Cubs’ left fielder Sam Fuld got his first big-league hit & made a great outfield assist to help the Chicago Cubs beat the Pittsburgh Pirates 4-1 on Wednesday evening from PNC Park.

The Cubs won despite an ejection from Lou Piniella, who was tossed in the 6th inning after arguing a call at 1st base where Randy Wells was called out on a close play.

The Cubs grabbed an early lead in the top of the 1st after Sam Fuld collected his first major-league hit with a lead-off double against Pirates starter Virgil Vasquez.

Ryan Theriot then laid down a sac bunt, which advanced Fuld to 3rd base with just 1 out for Derrek Lee.

Lee kept his recent hot streak going with a 2-run homer (12th of season) that almost cleared the centerfield wall to give Chicago a 2-1 lead.

The Pirates struck back in the bottom of the 1st after Andrew McCutchen hit a lead-off double against Cubs starter Randy Wells.

2 batters later, Garrett Jones grounded out to Andres Blanco at 2nd base, but was able to advance McCutchen to 3rd on the play.

Andy LaRoche then drew a walk, which put runners on 1st & 3rd with 2 outs for Brandon Moss.

Moss delivered with an RBI single to score McCutchen from 3rd base & make it a 2-1 game.

With 2 outs & LaRoche on 2nd, Robinzon Vazquez struck out swinging to end the inning.

Chicago struck for another rally in the 4th after Milton Bradley drew a lead-off walk from Vasquez.

2 batters later, Kosuke Fukudome doubled to right field which put runners on 2nd & 3rd with just 1 out for Geovany Soto.

Soto then reached safely on a fielder’s choice, as Bradley was gunned down at home plate for the 2nd out.

That brought up Andres Blanco with runners on 1st & 2nd, who hit a grounder to Andy LaRoche at 1st base to end the scoring threat.

The Cubs had another chance in the top of the 5th after Sam Fuld drew a 1-out walk against Vasquez.

Fuld then advanced to 2nd on a wild pickoff attempt by Vasquez during Ryan Theriot’s at-bat, who hit a check-swing single to left field.

This put runners on 1st & 3rd with just 1 out for Derrek Lee, who hit into a doubleplay to end the inning.

Pittsburgh threatened to tie it in the bottom of the 5th after Jorge Jaramillo hit a lead-off single against Wells.

3 batters later, Andrew McCutchen singled to put runners on 1st & 2nd with 2 outs for Freddy Sanchez.

Sanchez hit a single to left field, but Sam Fuld saved a run with a perfect strike to home plate which gunned down Jaramillo to end the scoring threat.

Chicago added onto their lead in the 6th after Kosuke Fukudome hit a 2-out solo homer (6th of season) off Sanchez to give the Cubs a 3-1 lead.

Geovany Soto then kept it going with a triple after Garrett Jones just missed making a great diving catch in left field.

Andres Blanco was then intentionally walked, which put runners at 1st & 3rd with 2 outs for Randy Wells.

Wells was then retired on a very close groundout at 1st base, which caused Lou Piniella to storm out of the Cubs dugout & slam his cap on the ground for a quick ejection from the game.

The Cubs got another run in the 8th after Milton Bradley drew a lead-off walk from Pirates reliever Jesse Sanchez.

Jake Fox then reached 1st base safely after Jack Wilson’s throw sailed over the head of Freddy Sanchez at 2nd.

Kosuke Fukudome then flied out to Brandon Moss in right field, but Bradley was able to advance to 3rd base on the play.

That forced Pirates manager John Russell to go into his bullpen once again & call upon righthander Steven Jackson to face Geovany Soto.

Soto then hit an RBI single to left, which scored Bradley from 3rd & gave Chicago a 4-1 lead.

Jackson then threw a wild pitch during Andres Blanco’s at-bat, which allowed both Fox & Soto to advance into scoring position.

Blanco then struck out, which left it up to pinch-hitter Micah Hoffpauir.

Hoffpauir also struck out to end the inning.

Carlos Marmol & Kevin Gregg got the job done again tonight, as only 1 Pirate baserunner reached in the last 2 innings which ended the game & finished off the road trip at 3-7.

Randy Wells (3-3) gets his 3th consecutive win for the Cubs after pitching 7 innings & allowing just 1 run on 6 hits while walking one & striking out four.

Virgil Vasquez (1-1) takes his first major-league loss for Pittsburgh after allowing 3 runs on 7 hits in 6 innings of work.

Kevin Gregg pitched a perfect 9th for his 14th save of the season.

With just 3.5 games separating them in the NL Central, the Chicago Cubs & Milwaukee Brewers will begin a huge 4-game series which starts Thursday night at 7:05 PM cst from Wrigley Field.

Brewers righthander Seth McClung (3-1, 3.55) will face Cubs righthander Ryan Dempster (4-5, 4.09) in Thursday’s opener.

Dempster finished June with a solid 3.23 ERA, but only got 12 runs of offensive support in 5 starts.

Ryan is 1-1 in 2 starts this season against Milwaukee with a 5.84 ERA.

McClung will make just his 2nd start of the season on Thursday after lasting just 4 innings on June 27th against San Francisco & allowed 3 runs on 6 hits during Milwaukee’s 7-6 win.

Thursday will also be McClung’s first career start against the Cubs.

Signing off for now,

Matt T for Cubshub.com