PITTSBURGH _ The Cubs pulled out all the stops Wednesday night and were two outs away from snapping a three-game losing streak and moving into a share of first place in the National League Central with the Brewers.
But their struggles reached a new low when the Pirates rallied for two runs off closer Craig Kimbrel to seize a 6-5 win at PNC Park.
Kimbrel allowed a walk to Elias Diaz, and Jung Ho Kang hit a fly ball just out of the reach of right fielder Willson Contreras for a double. Second baseman Addison Russell's throw to home plate on a grounder by Adam Frazier arrived too late to prevent the tying run from scoring, and Corey Dickerson hit a fly ball to left deep enough to score Kang.
Victor Caratini hit two home runs, including a two-run shot in the seventh inning off Francisco Liriano that gave the Cubs a 5-4 lead.
Contreras, who played right field because of a back injury suffered by Jason Heyward, made a strong throw to Caratini at home plate to nail Melky Cabrera to end the eighth.
Pirates first baseman Josh Bell hit an RBI double in the fourth and a homer off Yu Darvish in the sixth. Bell is 6-for-12 with four home runs and 10 RBIs in the first three games of this four-game series.
