CHICAGO -- The Pirates had a four-run lead in the first inning and were up two runs after five. Both times the Cubs came back, with Starlin Castro providing much of the power. In the end, the Pirates were finally able to shut down Chicago. Pedro Alvarez had two hits and two RBIs, and Russell Martin drove in the go-ahead run on a sacrifice fly in the eighth inning as Pittsburgh beat the Cubs 7-6 on Tuesday night. Jason Grilli closed with a perfect ninth for his second save in three chances. "We just kept playing," Pirates manager Clint Hurdle said. "Its not about whats not happening. Its about what weve got to do next. Thats just the way we kept going. It was a fist fight off the mound for us most of the night. We executed extremely well in the first inning on offence and kept building innings." Cubs reliever Pedro Strop (0-1) walked two batters in the eighth and recorded only one out before being replaced by left-hander James Russell. Russell walked Alvarez to load the bases and Martin followed with a fly ball to right field that made it 7-6. "Had we laid down after the first inning, giving up four runs, I would have been extremely disappointed," Cubs manager Rick Renteria said. "But we didnt. We kept chipping away. I think thats what were talking about. We have to fight. We have to keep battling every day and if they keep doing that were going to get our situation where both sides of our game gets to where it needs to be." The Cubs tied the game in the seventh against Tony Watson (1-0) on Anthony Rizzos hit up the middle scoring Emilio Bonifacio, who went 3 for 5 and is batting .515. Castro hit a game-tying three-run homer in the third and a solo shot in the sixth against Pirates starter Charlie Morton for his first career multi-homer game. "The two pitches that they scored four of their runs on were just terrible pitches," Morton said of Castros homers. "It could have turned out a lot better had I executed a little bit better even instead of giving up a home run. The guys picked me up." Jackson gave up six runs on nine hits in 4 2-3 innings. Jackson struggled with his command, walking four (one intentional) and hitting a batter. Morton didnt fare much better allowing five runs on eight hits in six innings. Jacksons troubles began on the games first pitch with a lead-off double by Starling Marte. It sparked a four-run inning. Nine Pirates batted in the first. Alvarez doubled to score Marte and Andrew McCutchen for a 2-0 Pirates lead. Neil Walker added an RBI single and Travis Ishikawas sacrifice fly made it 4-0. Bonifacios two-out single to centre field in the second inning scored Ryan Sweeney from second base to cut the Pirates lead to 4-1. Jackson walked Marte and Travis Snider in the fourth to bring up McCutchen, who came through with an RBI single that made it 5-4. Ishikawas triple in the fifth scored Martin, who doubled to start the inning, and extended Pittsburghs lead to 6-4. "He played more of a supporting role, you can see hes being pitched more difficult," Hurdle said of McCutchen. "A lot of pitches, sequences, balls arent there to hit but when they crossed the plate a couple times today he squared up and hit them really hard. Hes a real good player." Renteria was ejected in the top of the ninth inning by home plate umpire Jeff Nelson for arguing balls and strikes. It was Renterias first ejection. Notes: Renteria said the Cubs are sticking with the five-man rotation as constructed meaning RHP Carlos Villanueva will stay in the rotation and not move back to the bullpen. . Cubs president of baseball operations Theo Epstein said he didnt have a problem with top prospect Javier Baezs recent ejection at Triple-A Iowa labeling it a "great development experience" for the 21-year-old shortstop. . Epstein said the Cubs are being cautious with Double-A Tennessee OF prospect Jorge Soler (sore right hamstring) by putting him on the seven-day disabled list. Soler aggravated his hamstring during the first minor league game of the season while running to second base on a double. . On the 40th anniversary of Hank Aaron hitting the 715th home run of his career to set an MLB record, Pirates manager Clint Hurdle fondly remembered the moment. "I wasnt watching at the start and my dad tried to tune in the radio because we were in Florida," Hurdle said. "We listened to a lot of the games on radio. As it turned out, it was a pretty magical moment." Lanny McDonald Jersey .com) - John Wall had 15 points, 12 assists and four steals as the Washington Wizards defeated the New Orleans Pelicans 92-85 on Monday night. Joe Nieuwendyk Jersey .Y. -- Mark Steenhuis scored four goals and added two assists to lead the Buffalo Bandits over the Toronto Rock 12-10 in National Lacrosse League action on Saturday. http://www.flamessale.com/authentic-gary-roberts-flames-jersey/ . The Heat centre scored 10 of his 30 points early in the first quarter to silence the Toronto fans as Miami defeated the Raptors 113-101 on Friday night. Al MacInnis Jersey . -- Rookie Victor Oladipo came off the bench to score 20 points and Glen Davis had 18, leading the Orlando Magic to a 112-98 victory over the Detroit Pistons on Wednesday night. Craig Conroy Jersey . The 23-year-old Poland international is back as first choice at Arsenal after losing his regular spot in the team on occasions over the last three seasons.Two teams in the headlines will do battle in the Western Conference semifinals when the Oklahoma City Thunder host the Los Angeles Clippers in the series-opener Monday night at Chesapeake Energy Arena. For the second-seeded Thunder, "Mr. Unreliable" became something of a rallying cry. The Oklahoman ran that headline describing Kevin Durant, who will probably be handed the leagues MVP award before a home game during this series. Durant responded with 36 and 33 points in the final two games against the Memphis Grizzlies, both double-digit victories for OKC in elimination games during the first round. "Hes one of the best players on the planet," Oklahoma City coach Scott Brooks said of his superstar. "Hes going to continue to help us win games and move us forward, not only with his shot-making, but his playmaking." Sadly, the Clippers headlines were of a much more serious tone during the first round against Golden State. Their owner, Donald Sterling, was caught on tape making racist comments. It affected the team in its Game 4 loss, then, before Game 5, NBA commissioner Adam Silver banned Sterling for life and prompted the Board of Governors to force Sterling to sell the team. Through this tumultuous time, the third-seeded Clippers hung on for a Game 7 win over the Warriors. "I just wanted us to win the game," said Clippers coach Doc Rivers. "Not because of all of this stuff, butt this team just needed this win.ddddddddddddI thought our guys fought. The adversity, they went through it. It drained them and they found enough energy to find a way to win the game." Each team features two superstars. For the Thunder, Durant averaged 29.9 points, 9.6 rebounds, 3.4 assists and 1.6 blocks against the Grizz. Granted, Durant shot 44 percent and 32 percent from 3-point range, which are low numbers by his standards. Russell Westbrook averaged 25.6 points in the Grizzlies series, but he took 23 shot attempts a game, which was the same number as Durant. Westbrook shot 38 percent from the field and committed 4.9 turnovers per game. For LA, Chris Paul is the leader and scored 22 points and handed out 14 assists in the Game 7 victory. Blake Griffin blossomed into a well-rounded offensive machine. And special mention to Clippers big man DeAndre Jordan, who averaged 12.1 points, 15.1 rebounds and 4.0 blocks against the Warriors. During the season, the two squads were evenly matched. The Thunder have won five of the last seven meetings, but the two sides split four games this season and each team managed a win on the road. The Thunder were eliminated in this round last season by the Grizzlies when Westbrook got hurt in the first round against the Houston Rockets. The Clippers have never advanced past the second round in franchise history. Game 2 will be Wednesday night in OKC. 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