PITTSBURGH -- Andrew McCutchen made a "minor" adjustment in the batters box a couple weeks ago hoping to give him a fraction of a second longer to see whats coming. Royce Freeman Broncos Jersey . Consider the experiment a success. McCutchen hit his eighth homer and drove in three runs to lead the Pittsburgh Pirates to a 6-2 victory over the Chicago Cubs on Monday night. "When I get the barrel to it, good things happen," McCutchen said. "Thats basically what Im doing." McCutchen drove a two-run shot to right field in the third inning then added an RBI-double in the fifth off Edwin Jackson (4-6) as the Pirates bounced back from two tough losses to Milwaukee over the weekend in which they left a combined 18 runners on base. There were no such problems while sending Jackson to his fourth loss in his last five decisions. "I got to do a better job of mixing up instead of getting beat with same pitch twice," Jackson said. "I let the guy whos the threat on the team beat me twice and you cant do that." Charlie Morton (3-7) allowed one run over seven innings to win for the third time in his last four starts after beginning the season 0-6. Ike Davis hit his fifth homer of the season while Starling Marte broke out of a lengthy slump with three hits. Starlin Castro went 3 for 4 with his eighth home run and two RBIs for the Cubs, who fell to 10-22 on the road, the worst mark in all of baseball. "We try to figure out what it is but we havent figured it out yet," Castro said. "You go back and see those games we play good at home and we should be playing that way on the road but were not." It wasnt exactly the best way to start a 10-game road swing for Chicago, which was coming off a successful 5-1 homestand that included the teams longest winning streak in more than a year. Any momentum generated at Wrigley Field vanished on a night Morton avoided the control problems that have plagued him much of the season. The right-hander came in with a major-league high 13 hit batters while averaging nearly 2.5 walks per start. Maybe it was the extra day of rest he asked for after feeling tired following a win over San Diego last week, but Mortons wildness vanished for seven innings at least. He didnt walk a batter, struck out a season-high seven and needed just 82 pitches to get 21 outs. "I dont think it was great control but I got some quick outs, that helps," Morton said. "Not so many deep counts. Not as erratic, my misses were more in the zone and I got away with them." The Cubs needed a grounder deflecting off the glove of shortstop Jordy Mercer to extend the sixth inning before finally scoring on Castros long double to right. All the run did was draw Chicago within 4-1, with most of the damage done by the reigning NL MVP. Marte, who began the night 0 for his last 23, doubled home Pedro Alvarez to give the Pirates the lead in the first. McCutchen pushed it to 3-0 in the third when he patiently waited as Jackson worked him away before reaching out and sending a pitch into the first row of seats in right for his fourth homer this month. McCutchen nearly did it again two innings later, lacing a double off the wall in right to score Travis Snider and give Morton all the cushion he would need. Bothered by some bad luck early in the season, Morton lowered his ERA to 3.14. NOTES: Pittsburgh 2B Neil Walker was scratched about an hour before the first pitch with abdominal pain and underwent an emergency appendectomy. The team placed Walker on the DL after the game and called up highly touted prospect OF Gregory Polanco from Triple-A Indianapolis. Polanco hit .347 with seven home runs in the minors this spring. ... Pirates RHP Gerrit Cole threw 25 soft-toss pitches on flat ground before the game. Cole, who leads the Pirates with six victories, was placed on the DL on Sunday with what the team is calling right shoulder fatigue. ... Chicago RF Ryan Sweeney made a rehab start for Class A Kane County on Monday night. Sweeney went on the DL May 3 with a right hamstring strain. ... The series continues Tuesday. Travis Wood (5-5, 5.04 ERA) starts for the Cubs against Francisco Liriano (1-6, 4.54). Wood is 2-4 with an 8.04 ERA on the road this season. Marquette King Jersey . While he was away, it was the division-rival Baltimore Orioles conducting a little business of their own, scooping up Ubaldo Jimenez on Monday evening to a reported four-year, $50-million contract. Sua Cravens Broncos Jersey . Both of Padakins goals came in the second period while Zane Jones added a single in the first period for Calgary (13-6-4). Hitmen goaltender Chris Driedger finished with 30 saves for the shutout. http://www.authenticshopbroncos.com/broncos-case-keenum-navy-blue-jersey/ .C. - NASCAR team owner Rick Hendrick headlines this years electees into the North Carolina Sports Hall of Fame. ANAHEIM, Calif. -- With all the power they possess in the middle of their lineup, the Los Angeles Angels dont usually need home runs from Chris Iannetta. Yet thats what they got in a three-game series with the Kansas City Royals. The veteran catcher hit a tiebreaking homer in the eighth inning Sunday to lift the Angels to a 4-3 victory. He also connected Friday night for their first run in a win. Iannettas latest go-ahead drive sailed into the lower seats in the left-field corner. "I didnt know if it was going to go out or not. I was just hoping it would stay fair. Im glad it did," he said. Reliever Tim Collins (0-3) retired the first batter in the eighth before Iannetta hit his fifth homer of the season. "I just missed. I was trying to go away," Collins said. "You cant miss your spots in those situations. Thats what I did, and thats what happens." Michael Kohn (2-1) pitched a scoreless inning. Ernesto Frieri got three outs for his sixth save, retiring Alcides Escobar on a popup with a runner on third. Garrett Richards, trying to preserve some arms in the Angels bullpen following Saturday nights 13-inning 7-4 loss, pitched seven innings and allowed three runs on five hits. He struck out seven and walked two. "I was prepared to go back out for the eighth, with the bullpen being taxed from last night," Richards said. "But I always try to go deep in game because I know that if I do, Im doing my job. Im going as hard as I can for as long as I can." Royals starter Jason Vargas was charged with a run and three hits over 6 1-3 innings in his return to Angel Stadium, and was lifted after 109 pitches with a 3-0 lead. Kelvin Herrera took over with a runner at first and gave up a single by No. 9 hitter Collin Cowgill on his first pitch. Mike Trout hit an RBI double with one out, Albert Pujols was hit by an 0-2 pitch and David Freese had a tying, two-run single. Pujols tried to score the go-ahead run from second on C.J. Crons sharp single, but Lorenzo Cain -- starting in right field for the first time this season after 28 starts in centre -- threw him out at the plate. Vargas struck out six and tied a career high with five walks. This was the sixth time in 165 big league starts that the 31-year-old left-hander has walked as many as five batters, and the first time sincee July 20, 2011, with Seattle. Tramaine Brock Broncos Jersey. "I think he was being extra careful with Pujols and Trout -- and Howie Kendricks also tough," manager Ned Yost said. "Thats a powerful lineup over there. So either he was going to make his pitch, or he wasnt going to make a mistake to those guys and let them drive it out of the ballpark." Vargas walked his first batter in the second, third and fourth innings after giving up a leadoff single in the first, but the Angels couldnt capitalize. He walked his first two batters in the third before retiring Pujols on a double-play grounder to shortstop and striking out Freese. "It was just one of those games where I had to battle through some innings," Vargas said. "I was just missing and wasnt able to get ahead on some of those guys, but I was fortunate to get back into some counts later in the inning and ended up getting out of it." The Royals, who scored first in all three games of the series, took a 3-0 lead in the second. Pedro Ciriaco hit a bloop double that scored Jimmy Paredes, who singled and advanced on Richards first balk in 291 1-3 career innings to that point. Jarrod Dyson reached on a fielding error by Gold Glove shortstop Erick Aybar, and Eric Hosmer followed with a sacrifice fly before Alex Gordon capped the rally with an RBI single. Richards retired his next 11 batters, striking out the side on 11 pitches in the fifth. "Other than the third inning, it was good," Richards said. Vargas was 9-8 with a 4.02 ERA in 24 starts with the Angels last season after four years with Seattle. He signed a four-year, $32 million contract with Kansas City on Nov. 21. NOTES: LF Cowgill made two sliding catches in foul territory, one on Hosmers sacrifice fly. ... The Angels optioned RHP Matt Shoemaker to Triple-A Salt Lake and selected six-year veteran LHP Wade LeBlanc to the major league roster. LeBlanc, who signed a minor league contract in November as a free agent, was 5-1 with a 3.69 ERA with Salt Lake. He had a combined 20-32 record and 4.51 ERA in 96 big league appearances with the Padres, Marlins and Astros, including 68 starts. ... The Royals recalled RHP Michael Mariot from Triple-A Omaha and optioned C Francisco Pena to the minor league team. Pena is the son of former Royals manager and current Yankees bench coach Tony Pena. Wholesale NFL T-shirts Cheap Jerseys Free Shipping NFL Jerseys Wholesale China NFL Gear Wholesale NFL Camo Jerseys Cheap NFL Hoodies Camo China NFL Jerseys ' ' '