MILWAUKEE -- Starling Martes return didnt last long. The Pittsburgh Pirates stay in the NL wild-card race may not last too much longer.Chris Carter hit his 37th home run, matching his career high, and Scooter Gennett sliced an opposite-field, two-run homer to help the Brewers avoid another sweep at Miller Park by the Pirates with a 3-1 win Thursday night.Chase Anderson (9-11) allowed four hits in 5 2/3 innings, including a fifth-inning home run by Francisco Cervelli, his first since last Sept. 30.Marte grabbed his lower back after fouling off a pitch in the third and left the game with what the team called back tightness. He had singled in the first inning after missing 16 consecutive games because of low back discomfort.If you saw the game, you saw the swings in the middle of the at-bat, Pirates manager Clint Hurdle said in describing Martes two plate appearances. Those swings just arent going to play.Pittsburgh trails the Mets and Giants by 4 1/2 games for the NL wild-card spots.Minimal opportunities tonight, Hurdle said. We hit some balls hard, much like they did last night. We hit some balls hard, and they were in front of them.Pittsburgh had won six straight at Milwaukee, including the first two games of the series.Anderson improved to 3-1 in five starts this season against the Pirates.Anderson has been on a good little run, Hurdle said. Weve been able to win a couple of games, but hes been pitching probably as good as he has in his career.Gennett homered to left field in the first against Ryan Vogelsong (3-6), who gave up two hits in four innings, struck out seven and walked twoI thought I threw a pretty good curveball there, Vogelsong said of the pitch Gennett hit. He stayed behind it and hit it the other way.Vogelsong had won his previous four starts against the Brewers.McCUTCHEN STAYS HOTMcCutchen has hit safely in 11 straight games against the Brewers and is batting .404 (19 for 47) with five runs, four doubles, three times, eight RBI and three walks in that span.McCutchen singled in the first inning, extending his hitting streak to 10 games, then doubled in the sixth to chase Anderson.PIRATES ACQUIRE COKEPittsburgh acquired left-hander Phil Coke from the New York Yankees for $1. The 34-year-old reliever made three appearances in the middle of May before the Yankees designated him for assignment on May 17. He then went 5-3 with a 2.96 ERA in 20 regular-season appearances for Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, including 11 starts.In the last two weeks, hes started two times, said. Theres volume there. Theres experience out of the bullpen.Coke, who is expected to join the team in Pittsburgh on Friday, gives Hurdle a healthy arm in the bullpen.(A.J.) Schugel is down, (Neftali) Perez is down and (Jeff) Locke just returned to pitch Wednesday, Hurdle said. He (Coke) might have an inning in him to get him initially involved.TRAINERS ROOMPirates: SS Jody Mercer wasnt in the starting lineup due to right forearm discomfort but pinch hit for Vogelsong in the fifth and grounded out.UP NEXTPirates: RHP Jameson Taillon (4-4) is to starts Fridays opener of a three-game series against visiting Washington, his first outing against the Nationals. Custom Nike Baseball Jerseys Online . That left plenty of energy for pitching books and swatting away free agency questions. Anthony had 24 points and nine rebounds, and the Knicks avenged an embarrassing home loss with a rout of their own, beating the Boston Celtics 114-88 on Wednesday night for their third straight victory. 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Two pressure cooker bombs exploded near the finish line of the April 15 race in an area packed with fans cheering the passing runners. Three people were killed and more than 260 injured, including at least 16 who lost limbs. CINCINNATI -- The Cubs played three different pitchers in left field in their 15-inning, 7-2 win over the Cincinnati Reds on Tuesday. Two of them, lefty Travis Wood and righty Spencer Patton, alternated pitching and playing left in the 14th inning before Wood pitched the 15th while setup man Pedro Strop played left field.We were down to almost nothing, manager Joe Maddon said after using 22 of the 25 players on his roster. Travis, my God, what an athlete. ... Travis made everything possible. He may have had his best stuff all year.Wood wasnt supposed to pitch after he threw in Mondays game, but once Hector Rondon blew a ninth-inning save opportunity, it was all hands on deck, according to the manager.With Travis, you treat him like a position player, Maddon said. I had no concerns about that.As Maddon brought in right-hander Joel Peralta?to pitch in the bottom of the 13th inning, he sent Wood to left field to replace?Chris Coghlan. The Reds had the winning run on second.I was ready to come up and hose him [throw him out], Wood said with a laugh. I dont know if we would have executed, but I would have given it a try.Wood got to bat in the top of the 14th before going back out to left field in the bottom of the inning while Maddon called upon Patton to pitch. After Patton got an out, he replaced Wood in left field and Wood took the mound to get?Jay Bruce?out on a ground ball. Patton then came back in from left tto get the final out of the 14th.ddddddddddddIt was a lot of fun, Wood said. I would have liked to record an out [in the outfield]. Showcase my talents out there. Get me a couple of starts.The Cubs scored five runs in the 15th inning on an RBI single by Kris Bryant and a grand slam by Javier Baez. It was the latest grand slam ever hit in a game by a Cub and the latest in baseball since 1996, according to the Elias Sports Bureau. Wood came back on to pitch the 15th inning with Strop playing left field, after Patton was pinch hit for by another pitcher, starter Jason Hammel.A fly ball to Strop would have been the fitting conclusion, Maddon said.I play outfield when we play softball in the winter, Strop said. I can do it. I would have pimped the final out if it came to me.Maddon said he had never used three pitchers in the outfield in a single game and was shaking his head trying to remember all the decision-making that went on to pull this game off.It was the Travis Wood show is how he summed it up.The crazy victory earned the Cubs their 50th win of the season and made them the first NL team to reach that plateau.We used a pitcher in left field for the last three innings, right? Wood asked. You dont get to see that a lot. It made it fun and interesting, and we pulled off the victory. ' ' '
