PITTSBURGH _ The ingredients for a fifth consecutive loss were there.
But Jon Lester had other ideas, and he received some key help from Kris Bryant and Tyler Chatwood as the Cubs seized a 2-0 victory against the Pirates on Saturday to end their four-game losing streak.
The Cubs won for only the ninth time in their last 26 road games.
Lester (10-8) walked five but kept the Pirates hitless in seven at-bats with runners in scoring position through six-plus innings.
Bryant, who was charged with two errors that put the shutout in jeopardy, snapped a scoreless tie with a home run off Steven Brault to open the seventh.
Tyler Chatwood, making his first appearance since Aug. 8, bailed Lester out of a seventh-inning jam.
Chatwood walked Adam Frazier to start the ninth and was replaced by Rowan Wick. Pinch hitter Cole Tucker grounded out to Wick for the first out, and Wick got Kevin Newman and Bryan Reynolds to ground out to second to finish the four-hit shutout and earn his first major league save.
Lester did his best pitching when he was in trouble, which was often.
Lester loaded the bases with one out in the first, but Melky Cabrera lined out to Bryant at third and Colin Moran flied out to center.
In the fifth, Lester walked Elias Diaz, who advanced to third on a two-base throwing error by Bryant. Lester walked Brault to load the bases but escaped by inducing Newman to line to shallow right, fooling Reynolds on a called third strike and retiring Starling Marte on a flyout to center.
Lester walked Josh Bell to start the sixth, and Bryant was caught between hops on a hard grounder by Cabrera for an error. But Moran grounded into a double play and Diaz struck out.
Manager Joe Maddon took no chances in the seventh after pinch hitter Adam Frazier hit a soft double down the left field line and pinch hitter Pablo Reyes drew a walk.
Chatwood fooled Newman on a 97-mph fastball for a strikeout. Ian Happ made a diving catch in left to rob Reynolds of at least a game-tying hit and Chatwood closed the inning by getting Bell to ground to second.
Until Bryant's homer, the Cubs didn't have a runner in scoring position and mustered only one hit, a single down the third-base line by Addison Russell with one out in the fifth.
Happ led off the eighth by beating the shift with a single to the left side and moved to third on a hit by Jonathan Lucroy. A pickoff attempt by Diaz sailed into left field, allowing Happ to score the second run.
