PITTSBURGH -- All eyes were supposed to be on Gregory Polanco.
[b]Packers Jerseys 2021[/b] . But thanks to his new-found success against left-handed pitchers, Anthony Rizzo stole the show. Rizzo homered, doubled twice and drove in three runs to lead the Chicago Cubs over the Pittsburgh Pirates 7-3 Tuesday night, spoiling Polancos much-anticipated debut. Rizzo hit a two-run homer in the first inning off lefty Francisco Liriano, who came out in the fourth with discomfort on his right side. Rizzo also doubled and scored in the fourth and hit an RBI double in the seventh, a drive to deep right-centre that struck Polancos left wrist as the touted Pirates rookie tried to make the catch. Rizzo has five home runs and a .344 batting average in 61 at-bats against left-handers this season. Last year, he batted .189 with seven homers against southpaws in 189 at-bats. "I feel more comfortable against them now and its the best Ive ever hit left-handers at any level," Rizzo said. "I dont know if Ill ever figure lefties out -- or right-handers, either -- but I do feel confident against them." Rizzo has every reason to feel confident. He has five homers in his last 10 games, raising his season total to 13. "You can talk about mechanics and scouting reports and everything else, but the biggest thing in this game is confidence," Rizzo said. "If you step into the batters box with confidence, then youre giving yourself a much better chance to hit." Polanco went 1 for 5 after getting called up from Triple-A Indianapolis, where the right fielder was leading the International League with a .347 batting average and 49 RBIs in 62 games. "It was a lot of fun," he said. "It was exciting. I was a little nervous at first but then I relaxed and had fun." Pinch-hitter Luis Valbuenas two-run double off Casey Sadler (0-1) broke a 3-all tie in the sixth and put Chicago ahead for good. Travis Wood (6-5) allowed three runs and nine hits in 6 2-3 innings. "It was a grind at times but I got through it," Wood said. Andrew McCutchen hit a two-run homer for the Pirates, his ninth of the season and fifth in nine June games. Valbuena and Junior Lake each had two hits for the Cubs, as did Pittsburghs Russell Martin and Starling Marte. Rizzo scored on a single by Starlin Castro in the seventh to push Chicagos lead to 7-3. Rizzos homer put the Cubs up 2-0, but the Pirates tied it on McCutchens drive in the third. In the top of the fourth, Rizzo led off with a double and scored on Darwin Barneys double. Pittsburgh tied it again in the bottom half on pinch-hitter Jose Tabatas RBI double. "Rizzos blast there in the first inning kind of got us rolling and we did a good job of adding on runs after that," Chicago manager Rick Renteria said. Liriano allowed two runs in three-plus innings. He bent over and held his back after throwing a pitch to Rizzo, then left the mound after a few warmup pitches. After leading the Pirates with 16 wins last season, Liriano has struggled this year. He is 1-6 with a 4.60 ERA in 14 starts. Liriano will almost certainly miss his scheduled start Sunday in Miami and could land on the disabled list. Pirates right-hander Gerrit Cole (right shoulder fatigue) went on the DL on Sunday and second baseman Neil Walker (appendectomy) followed him Tuesday. NOTES: The Cubs released RHP Jose Veras, one week after designating him for assignment. He was 0-2 with an 8.10 ERA in 12 relief appearances while going 0 for 2 on save chances. ... Pittsburgh 3B Pedro Alvarez got the night off. He is 1 for 18 against Wood. ... Chicago RHP Jason Hammel (6-3, 2.53 ERA) is scheduled to start Wednesday night against RHP Brandon Cumpton (1-2, 6.51).
[b]Packers Jerseys China[/b] . -- Green Bay wide receiver Greg Jennings will be on the sideline as the Packers make their push for a perfect regular season.
[b]Stitched Packers Jerseys[/b] . Bilbaos first victory in four rounds lifted it four points clear of Real Sociedad and kept it in command of Spains last Champions League berth for next season. In contrast, Betis was left 11 points from safety after a dismal performance that at times bordered on self-destruction amid some questionable refereeing decisions.ROME -- Inter Milan wasted a two-goal lead when a glaring error from Fredy Guarin led to a late equalizer by relegation-threatened Livorno in a 2-2 draw Monday. Five minutes from time, Guarins ill-advised pass back to defender Walter Samuel was intercepted by Livorno forward Innocent Emeghara, who then did well to beat goalkeeper Samir Handanovic with a long shot. Brazil playmaker Hernanes had opened the scoring in the 37th with his first goal for Inter since transferring from Lazio in January and Rodrigo Palacio doubled the lead with his 14th of the season in first-half added time. Paulinho pulled one back for Livorno in the 54th to start the comeback. Inter remained fifth, oonly two points ahead of Parma in the race for the final Europa League berth.
[b]Green Bay Packers Gear[/b]. It was the third consecutive match Inter failed to win, although this one had to be particularly painful for Inters first-year coach Walter Mazzarri, who is from the Livorno area. Earlier, Udinese beat last-place Catania 1-0 with a header from captain Antonio Di Natale in the 68th. Udineses 17-year-old goalkeeper Simone Scuffet had another stellar performance, preserving the clean sheet with several difficult saves. Udinese moved 13 points clear of the relegation zone, with seven rounds remaining. Catania remained one point behind Sassuolo and dropped five behind Livorno. ' ' '
