Bucs rally in 11th to claim suspended contest

CHICAGO -- In one of those crazy, chaotic, heldover games that is hard, but important, to push through, the Pirates found their way to the other side of a losing streak.

Josh Harrison's 11th-inning single -- his fourth hit of a two-day game -- snapped a 3-3 tie as the Bucs went on to a 5-3 victory over the Cubs, halting their four-game skid in Saturday afternoon's conclusion of a game suspended Friday in the seventh inning with the teams tied at 3.

The legend of John Holdzkom continued, as he closed out the game to earn his first big league save in his second Major League appearance.

Neil Walker doubled with one away in the 11th off lefty Wesley Wright. Gregory Polanco, in his first at-bat of the two-day game, patiently worked a splendid at-bat to walk on Wright's eighth pitch, then pinch-hitter Brent Morel also walked to load the bases and bring up Harrison.

Pinch-hitter Tony Sanchez followed Harrison's RBI single with a sacrifice fly for an insurance run as the Bucs continued their run as The Best Road Show in The Show.

Although there were considerably fewer people in the seats when the game resumed, the game's official Friday attendance of 35,541 let the Bucs maintain their surprising status as the National League's top drawing road team. In the Majors, only the Yankees and their Derek Jeter Farewell Tour (35,737) have outdrawn the Pirates' average of 34,093 for 66 away games.

Tony Watson and Mark Melancon, the bona fide back end of the Pirates' bullpen, each pitched two scoreless innings in the win.

The teams had traded sloppy runs in the Friday phase to send a tied game into Saturday.

The Bucs got a run in the first on third baseman Luis Valbuena's throwing error, the Cubs scored the 1-1 tiebreaking run in the third on Harrison's throwing error, the Bucs jumped back into a 3-2 lead in the fourth on a pair of RBI doubles (by Jose Tabata and Harrison) seemingly misjudged by the Chicago outfielders and, finally, the Cubs made it 3-3 with a fifth-inning run set up by consecutive walks.

"We gifted them a run after they'd gifted us a run earlier," Hurdle said.

Starting pitchers Vance Worley of the Bucs and Tsuyoshi Wada of the Cubs were both out of the game by the time it was stopped -- neither as a direct result of the interruptions.

Wada departed during the Bucs' go-ahead two-run rally in the fourth with mild cramps in his left calf, due to the extremely hot and humid conditions at the time.

Worley resumed pitching after a 37-minute weather delay in the top of the fifth and gave way to Justin Wilson with two outs in the bottom.

"His command was a little bit less than what we've seen," Hurdle said of Worley. "He did have six strikeouts, which shows good stuff. But it was inconsistent."

Worley allowed five hits and two earned runs, with four walks and six strikeouts in his 4 2/3 innings.