Pittsburgh 7, Chi. Cubs 6

Pirates 7, Cubs 6: Andrew McCutchen homered and Garrett Jones drove in a pair as visiting Pittsburgh snapped a season-high seven-game slide and evened the series with Chicago.

Clint Barmes added a solo blast and Wandy Rodriguez (11-13) allowed three runs (one earned) and nine hits in six strong innings for the Pirates, who pulled to within two games of St. Louis and Los Angeles in the National League wild-card race. The Cardinals dropped a 4-3 decision to the Dodgers on Saturday.

Pittsburgh got to Jason Berken (0-1) for single runs in the first three innings, with McCutchen’s 28th homer making it a 3-0 advantage in the third. The Cubs got a run back but the Pirates exploded for three unearned runs with two outs in the fourth, capped by Jones’ RBI double.

Berken was making his debut for Chicago and was knocked around for six runs (two earned) on eight hits in four innings. The former Baltimore Orioles reliever was claimed off waivers last week and slotted into the rotation spot of Jeff Samardzija, who was shut down after reaching his innings limit.

Chicago made things interesting against Joel Hanrahan in the ninth by pushing across two runs on Alfonso Soriano’s single and a bases-loaded walk. But Hanrahan struck out Dave Sappelt to end the game and back into his 35th save.

GAME NOTEBOOK: Pirates 2B Neil Walker returned to the starting lineup after missing 16 straight games. He went 0-for-5 with a strikeout. … Pittsburgh had averaged 2.6 runs during its losing streak and had not totaled seven runs or more since a 12-8 loss at Milwaukee on Sept. 2. … The Cubs dropped back to .500 (35-35) at Wrigley Field.

• Chi. Cubs will play their next game at home against Pittsburgh. The Cubs have a W/L % of .414 after a win and .379 after a loss.
• Pittsburgh will play their next game on the road against Chi. Cubs. The Pirates have a W/L % of .500 after a win and .514 after a loss.