May 27, 2003 3 min read

CHICAGO (AP) – With one big inning, the Pittsburgh Pirates turned a tight ballgame into an easy win. Josh Fogg outpitched Kerry Wood, and Pittsburgh scored nine runs in the eighth for a 10-0 victory over the Chicago Cubs on Monday.

Fogg was clinging to a one-run lead when he led off the eighth with a walk. The next six batters also reached safely, and suddenly the Pirates were in complete control.

“You never expect to get those type of runs, particularly off a pitching staff as good as Chicago’s,” Pittsburgh manager Lloyd McClendon said. “We were very fortunate they gave us some walks.”

Jeff Reboulet and pinch-hitter Randall Simon each hit a two-run single in the big inning, and Cubs pitchers walked in three runs.

Aramis Ramirez had an RBI single, and Brian Giles drove in two runs with a bases-loaded walk and an RBI single that capped the outburst.

Kenny Lofton, who had two singles and scored twice during the rally, extended his hitting streak to 24 games – longest in the NL this season.

Fogg (2-2), who was activated from the disabled list Monday, held the Cubs to three hits and didn’t allow a runner past second base. He struck out five and walked three in seven innings.

“I threw a lot of off-speed pitches trying to keep them off balance,” Fogg said. “To get one against a guy like (Wood) is a big thing.”

McClendon thought Fogg was outstanding.

“I never, ever thought he was going to be as sharp as he was coming back off that layoff,” McClendon said.

Fogg was lifted for a pinch-hitter when his second turn at bat came up in the eighth.

“The inning got so long we couldn’t send him back out there,” McClendon said.

Julian Tavarez pitched two innings to finish the five-hitter, Pittsburgh’s second shutout of the season. The Cubs have been blanked four times.

It was Fogg’s first win since April 3, the third game of the season. He last pitched on April 20 against the Cubs, when he was removed with pain in his left side and placed on the DL. He had actually strained his oblique muscle while batting five days earlier.

Wood (4-3) gave up just one hit and one run in seven innings, striking out 10. But he was lifted after throwing 113 pitches and it all fell apart for the Cubs as Pittsburgh sent 14 batters to the plate in the eighth.

Phil Norton, Juan Cruz and Antonio Alfonseca combined to give up six hits, four walks and a hit batsman in the eighth. The nine runs were the most scored by the Pirates in an inning since June 12, 2001.

The Cubs were coming off a 13-game road trip, and Wood said he noticed a difference in the pitching mound.

“I think they came in and shaved off the slope, making it a little flatter,” he said, adding that maybe the Cubs relievers didn’t have time to adjust to the change.

But Cruz said he didn’t see anything different. “It was just a bad day,” he said.

It was the fourth time this season Wood had double-digit strikeouts, and he leads the majors with 89.

Wood has lost twice in a row to Pittsburgh and is winless in his last five starts, dating to April 29.