PITTSBURGH _ The jeers rained down on Jake Arrieta as he slunk off the mound in the seventh inning Friday night. The Chicago Cubs right-hander had vexed the Pirates for so long, had walked into PNC Park last fall and made them look foolish, and so Pittsburgh would savor his suffering.
With a four-run seventh, the Pirates stormed ahead for an 8-4 win and stole another come-from-behind win _ their past seven wins have been in comeback fashion. They defeated Arrieta for the first time in seven tries. They improved to 11-3 in their past 14 games and drew within 7{ games of the Cubs.
The Pirates have two more whacks at the Cubs before the All-Star break begins Monday.
The Cubs managed just six hits. The Pirates had 10, led by a three-hit night from Andrew McCutchen. David Freese homered and singled, lifting his average to .300. Sean Rodriguez smashed a second second-inning home run off Arrieta for a 3-0 lead the Pirates would relinquish.
All-Star closer Mark Melancon entered for a one-out save, his 27th save this season.
It was more of the new normal from left-hander Francisco Liriano. His pitches seemed crisp, but his command was wobbly. He hit back-to-back batters in the second. He issued consecutive walks in the fifth. He put a man in scoring position in each of the six innings he cracked into.
The Cubs managed just three hits off Liriano, who went five-plus innings. He walked three, bumping his league-leading total to 58. Only one of his two runs was earned, however, so his ERA slid from 5.34 to 5.15. David Freese committed two errors at third base, and his second set up the Cubs' game-tying rally in the sixth.
The Pirates opened the scoring with a pair of home runs in the second. Freese rode a 95-mph fastball the other way for his 10th home run this season. Rodriguez turned on a slider for his eighth. The three earned runs charged to Arrieta's ledger was rare. He had allowed three total over his previous six starts against the Pirates. The two-homer inning was even more unusual. The Pirates had not recorded a single home run against Arrieta since Sept. 13, 2013.
After Freese's error and a single put two men on in the fifth, Liriano was lifted for right-hander Juan Nicasio. The long man got a quick double-play grounder, then watched Miguel Montero mash a tying, two-run homer to right. In the sixth, Anthony Rizzo homered off Neftali Feliz.
The Pirates, having gone down quietly in the fourth, fifth and sixth, roared to life in the four-run seventh. Rookie Adam Frazier waited out a walk from Arrieta, and Josh Bell slashed a single in his first major league at-bat. John Jaso's smart two-strike approach produced a tying RBI single.
Arrieta was done _ he gave up nine hits and six runs in six-plus innings _ but the inning was far from over. It was the third time in 18 starts this season Arrieta gave up at least four runs.
Rizzo's throwing error scored Bell the go-ahead run, and kept the rally moving. McCutchen drilled an RBI single, and a botched double play brought the score to 7-4.
The Pirates added an eighth run when Matt Joyce scrambled home on Trevor Cahill's wild pitch in the eighth. The run was set up by three hits and a hit by pitch.
