CHICAGO -- Pedro Alvarez stepped to the plate ready to strike in a big spot. [url=https://www.cheappadresjerseys.us/]San Diego Padres Shirts[/url] . Once again, he delivered. Alvarez hit a three-run homer to cap a five-run seventh inning and Jason Grilli retired Emilio Bonifacio on a bases-loaded gro

CHICAGO -- Pedro Alvarez stepped to the plate ready to strike in a big spot. San Diego Padres Shirts . Once again, he delivered. Alvarez hit a three-run homer to cap a five-run seventh inning and Jason Grilli retired Emilio Bonifacio on a bases-loaded grounder to end the game, giving the Pittsburgh Pirates a 5-4 victory over the Chicago Cubs on Thursday. The Pirates trailed 4-0 heading into the seventh, but two big drives changed things. Pinch hitter Travis Snider cut the deficit in half with a two-run homer off Brian Schlitter. Alvarez put Pittsburgh ahead with his three-run shot on the first pitch from James Russell (0-1), his third homer in two games and fifth this season. "Just trying to be ready from pitch No. 1, ready to compete and sometimes that first pitch is the best one you see and just trying to be ready to hit as soon as I step in the box," Alvarez said. Chicago threatened in the bottom of the ninth before Grilli retired Bonifacio on a grounder to first. Pittsburgh took two of three at Wrigley Field. That gave the Pirates their third series win -- the most for them to start the season since the 1992 team took its first six. Gerrit Cole (2-0) struck out 10 in six innings. He also allowed four runs, three of them earned. Tony Watson worked a perfect seventh. Mark Melancon retired the side in the eighth before things got tense against Grilli in the ninth. Grilli gave up a leadoff walk to pinch hitter Ryan Sweeney and a single to Starlin Castro, putting runners on first and second. Grilli then struck out Luis Valbuena and Welington Castillo before Darwin Barney walked to load the bases. Bonifacio, who came into the game with a .500 average after going 19 for 38, ended it with that grounder to first baseman Travis Ishikawa, giving Grilli his third save in four chances. Chicagos Travis Wood sailed through six-plus innings, allowing four hits, striking out nine and walking three. He left to cheers with a four-run lead after Neil Walker led off the seventh with a double. Snider, batting for Clint Barnes, then drove a two-run homer to the shrubs in centre off Schlitter, cutting it to 4-2. Schlitter also gave up a single to Starling Marte and walked Andrew McCutchen with two out before Alvarez drove the first pitch from Russell off the roof of a party suite beyond the bushes in centre. "Its tough, especially as well as Woody pitched," Russell said. "You never want to mess up (an outing) that he had. Its one of those deals. Its why we play the game. It happens. We live to see another day." With a 1-0 lead going into the fourth, the Cubs took advantage of a wild pitch while scoring three more runs. Anthony Rizzo and Nate Schierholtz singled leading off. Castro drove an RBI single through the left side with one out, and Schierholtz came home on a wild pitch to Mike Olt. The lead grew to 4-0 when Castro scored on Castillos two-out single. The throw from Marte in left beat the runner by several strides, but plate umpire Mark Carlson called him safe. Carlson told a pool reporter that Castros foot touched the plate before catcher Tony Sanchez had control of the ball. He also said, "If he has the ball securely, he would have been able to block the plate." Manager Clint Hurdle came out of the dugout to discuss the play, but obstruction "never came up." He also chose not to challenge but would not say why. "If I give you any other answer, we got 10 more questions," Hurdle said. NOTES: The Pirates said top pitching prospect Jameson Taillon had Tommy John surgery on his right elbow on Wednesday. He is expected to miss 12 to 18 months. ... The Cubs open a three-game series at St. Louis on Friday, and manager Rick Renteria was asked if he sees the Cardinals as a model for what Chicagos trying to do. "Its hard to argue with a club, an organization, thats had success over the years," he said. "Youve got to see what it is that they do and dont do. You take things from every organization in baseball, but certainly, theyve had a tremendous amount of success over the last few years -- and over their existence." Padres Jerseys China . Stepanek gave the Czech Republic its second straight Davis Cup title Sunday, sweeping past Dusan Lajovic in straight sets in the fifth and decisive match to secure a 3-2 win over Serbia in the final. Padres Jerseys 2019 . -- Two out of three aint bad. https://www.cheappadresjerseys.us/ . Joining him in this years class were Switzerlands Patrick Huerlimann and Norways Eigil Ramsfjell. The announcement was made at the world mens curling championship at Capital Indoor Stadium in China.PARIS - Hard-serving John Isner was broken a total of once through his first three French Open matches. His opponent Sunday, Tomas Berdych, needed all of one game Sunday to equal that total, breaking Isner at love to begin their fourth-round encounter. As omens go, it was telling. The 10th-seeded Isner failed in his bid to become the first American man in the quarter-finals at Roland Garros since Andre Agassi in 2003, losing serve once in each set of a 6-4, 6-4, 6-4 defeat against No. 6 Berdych of the Czech Republic. "It was big. I mean, it wasnt huge, but I started off a little slow," said Isner, best known for winning the longest match in tennis history, 70-68 in the fifth set, at Wimbledon in 2010. "Just wasnt as lively — everything really — at the very beginning of the match." The 6-foot-10 Isner, who lives in Florida, was the last of the eight U.S. men in the draw. No American man has made it to the quarterfinals at any Grand Slam tournament since 2011. There is one woman from the United States left in singles at the French Open: No. 15 Sloane Stephens, who faces No. 4 Simona Halep of Romania in the fourth round Monday. Isner recognizes this is a fallow period for a nation that produced the likes of Agassi, Pete Sampras and Jim Courier not too long ago, along with other past Grand Slam champions such as Bill Tilden, Don Budge, Arthur Ashe, John McEnroe and Jimmy Connors. Right now, there are no Americans in the top 10 of the ATP rankings; Isner, who is 11th, is his countrys only member of the top 60. San Diego Padres Pro Shop. "Im the No. 1 American now, which isnt as cool as being the No. 1 American in the 90s or something, or the 2000s," the 29-year-old Isner said. "Its pretty neat to say, but its nothing I would brag about or anything like that." Isner has lost seven consecutive matches against top-10 opponents and he never really got into the match against Berdych, the Wimbledon runner-up and a French Open semifinalist in 2010. Berdych broke again to open the second set, then waited until Isner was serving at 1-all in the third to get that sets lone break. "Quick breaks in each of the sets," said Berdych, who erased the two break points he faced. "Thats something which really helps through all the match, especially with a guy like John." By the end, Isner was muttering to himself between points. He slammed his racket against his leg, bending the frame, then folded the handle in half and chucked it behind his changeover bench at Court Suzanne Lenglen. He was outaced by Berdych, 11-7, and wound up with more than twice as many unforced errors, 29-13. "He was a lot better than me today, and thats really all it was to that match out there," Isner said. "He was just the better player." ___ Follow Howard Fendrich on Twitter at http://twitter.com/HowardFendrich ' ' '