Derrek Lee Flying Solo | Cubs 5 Pirates 3

Derrek Lee had a monstrous Pirates debut. The 2nd newest Pirate hit 2 home runs and drove in all 3 of the Pirates runs, but got no support from the rest of his offense and the Pirates lost their 4th straight game.

Lee hit a solo home run in the 4th and then a 2-run shot in the 8th. The pitching wasn't as good as the Pirates would have liked, as starter Paul Maholm gave up 4 runs in 6 innings and Daniel McCutchen gave up another one in the top of the 9th. Jason Grilli threw another 1-2-3 inning and has continued to be very good since the Pirates acquired him.

The offense wasn't invisible tonight, they collected 10 hits, they were just too scattered to do any real damage. Neil Walker and Pedro Alvarez had 2-hit days along side D-Lee, but the new outfielder Ryan Ludwick was silent going 0/3 with a walk.

Another frustrating loss. The Cubs did a lot of damage with 2-outs and it is a real downer to lose the first game of a 7-game homestand against two bad teams after losing 3 in Philadelphia.

They are really going to have to turn this around quickly because they need to have a good homestand here if they want to stay in this division race. The offensive production from Lee was certainly good to see, he could prove to be a huge addition down the stretch. His expectations are raised a little bit now because of his 2-homer night, but it's sure nice to have a proven big league bat in the lineup.

At the end of the day, it's just one game and the team is much better than it was 48 hours ago.

Until tomorrow...