The last time Kerry Wood blew a save in Pittsburgh, the Cubs came back to win in extra innings.

Tonight, Lou Piniella’s team didn’t receive a favorable outcome.

Pittsburgh blew a 4-1 lead in the 8th inning before rallying off Wood to tie it in the 9th & beat Chicago 5-4 on Saturday evening thanks to Jason Bay’s game-winning RBI single in the 14th inning.

The Cubs had a chance to get on the board in the top of the 2nd inning after Kosuke Fukudome & Mark DeRosa hit back-to-back 2 out singles off Pirates starter Phil Doumatrait, but Reed Johnson ended the scoring threat with a foul out to Jason Michaels in right field.

The Pirates’ first scoring chance came in the bottom of the 2nd inning after Adam LaRoche hit a 1-out single off Cubs starter Jason Marquis. Jason Michaels then followed with a walk, putting runners at 1st & 2nd with just 1 out.

Jose Bautista would end the scoring threat, as he hit into an ending-inning doubleplay.

Chicago finally pushed a run across in the top of the 4th inning after Derrek Lee hit a lead-off double against Doumatrait.

2 batters later, Geovany Soto hit an RBI double to score Lee from 2nd base & give the Cubs a 1-0 lead.

Mark DeRosa had a chance to drive in an additional run with 2 outs & a runner on 3rd base (Soto advanced to 3rd on Fukudome’s infield groundout), but grounded out to Luis Rivas at 3rd base to end the inning.

Pittsburgh struck back in the bottom of the 4th inning after Nate McLouth drew a 1-out walk against Marquis.

Jason Bay then delivered a 2-run homer (12th of season) to deep left center field & gave Pittsburgh a 2-1 lead.

The Cubs had a chance to either tie the game or take the lead in the top of the 6th inning after Derrek Lee’s 1 -out single.

2 batters later, Geovany Soto singled to put runners at 1st & 2nd with 2 outs.

Kosuke Fukudome would then draw a walk to load the bases for Mark DeRosa, who struck out looking to end the scoring threat.

The Pirates would finally knock Marquis out of the game after Jason Bay & Adam LaRoche hit back-to-back 1-out singles off him in the bottom of the 6th inning.

Jason Michaels then hit an RBI single to score Bay from 2nd base & gave Pittsburgh a 3-1 lead.

Pittsburgh had a chance to increase their lead in the bottom of the 7th inning after Chris Gomez hit a 1-out single off Cubs reliever Bob Howry.

2 batters later, Luis Rivas singled to put runners at the corners with 2 outs for Nate McLouth, who flied out to Reed Johnson in center field to end the scoring threat.

The Cubs would rally in the top of the 8th inning after Ryan Theriot drew a lead-off walk against Pirates reliever Tyler Yates.

Derrek Lee then singled to put runners at 1st & 2nd with nobody out for former Pirate Aramis Ramirez.

Ramirez once again tormented his former team with a game-tying 2-run double to score both Theriot & Lee, making it a 3-3 game.

2 batters ahead, Kosuke Fukudome hit an RBI single to score Ramirez from 2nd base & give the Cubs a 4-3 lead.

Cubs reliever Carlos Marmol gave up a lead-off double to Jason Bay, but then struck out 3 straight batters (LaRoche, Michaels & Bautista) to end the inning.

Chicago had a chance to add a key insurance run in the top of the 9th inning after Alfonso Soriano’s lead-off double against Pittsburgh closer Matt Capps.

Soriano would end up making a critical baserunning mistake as he was picked off 2nd base by Capps with Ryan Theriot batting to take the Cubs out of a scoring chance.

Capps would end up retiring both Theriot & Lee to end the inning.

Cubs closer Kerry Wood once again displayed control problems to start the bottom of the 9th inning, as he hit Doug Mientkiewicz with a pitch to give Pittsburgh an immediate rally.

Pinch-hitter Xavier Nady then followed with a single to put runners at 1st & 2nd with nobody out for Freddy Sanchez.

Sanchez laid down a successful sac bunt, moving both Nady & Sanchez into scoring position with 1 out for Luis Rivas.

Rivas hit a sac fly to right field & tied the game 4-4 after Mienkiewicz tagged from 3rd base & scored on the play.

Nate McLouth was then intentionally walked to put runners at 1st & 2nd with 2 outs for Jason Bay.

Bay would end up flying out to Kosuke Fukudome in right field to send the Cubs & Pirates into their 3rd extra-inning game this season, all at PNC Park.

Pittsburgh had a chance to win the game in the bottom of the 12th inning after Nate McLouth & Jason bay hit back-to-back 1-out singles off Cubs reliever Jon Lieber.

Lieber would then settle down to strike out Adam LaRoche looking before getting Jason Michaels to ground into a fielder’s choice to end the inning.

The Cubs had a chance to take the lead in the top of the 13th inning after Geovany Soto & Kosuke Fukudome drew back-to-back walks against Pirates reliever John Grabow.

Henry Blanco then grounded into a fielder’s choice, with the Pirates able to gun down Soto at 3rd base for the 1st out.

Reed Johnson had a chance to drive in a run, but ended up lining out to Luis Rivas at shortstop for the 2nd out.

Ronny Cedeno then ended the inning after grounding into a fielder’s choice.

Pittsburgh finally broke through in the bottom of the 14th inning after Freddy Sanchez reached 1st base safely on a throwing error by Ryan Theriot.

After Sanchez was able to reach 2nd base on a wild pitch from Cubs reliever Michael Wuertz, he took 3rd base on a infield groundout by Luis Rivas for the 1st out.

Nate McLouth was then intentionally walked for Jason Bay, who hit the game-winning RBI single over Reed Johnson’s head in centerfield, bringing in Sanchez from 3rd base & giving Pittsburgh a 5-4 win.

John Grabow (4-1) gets the win for Pittsburgh after pitching 3 scoreless innings in relief.

Michael Wuertz (0-1) takes the loss for Chicago after allowing Bay’s game-winning RBI single in the bottom of the 14th inning.

Kerry Wood is credited with his 4th blown save of the season, with 3 of those coming against NL Central foes.

Tyler Yates is also credited with his 3rd blown save of the season after allowing both Aramis Ramirez’s game-tying 2-run double & Kosuke Fukudome’s go-ahead RBI single in the top of the 8th inning.

The Cubs still have a chance to win this series & will look to do so Sunday afternoon at 12:35 PM cst, as southpaw Ted Lilly (5-4, 5.14) will be opposed by Pirates southpaw Paul Maholm (2-5, 5.03).

Lilly has been the Cubs’ hottest pitcher in May, sporting a perfect 4-0 record in 4 starts with a 3.55 ERA.

Lilly’s shortest outing of the season to date came against Pittsburgh on April 7th after he gave up 5 runs on 7 hits in 3 2/3 innings after the Cubs’ offense gave him an early 7-0 lead.

Overall, Lilly has never lost to the Pirates in 6 career starts against them.

Maholm is currently sporting a 7.33 ERA in 4 starts for May, but has a perfect 4-0 record against the Cubs in 6 starts despite a 6.27 ERA.

Signing off for now,