PITTSBURGH -- The Pittsburgh Pirates had just lost consecutive home games for the first time in over two months. Yet there was a sense of optimism in the Pirates clubhouse following a 5-1 loss to the Chicago Cubs on Tuesday night, even though they fell 2 1-2 games behind Cincinnati in the NL Central. The Pirates were buoyed by the postgame announcement that they had acquired veteran left-hander Wandy Rodriguez from the Houston Astros in a trade for three minor leaguers. It was the first time the Pirates had acquired a pitcher for a potential pennant push since trading with the Cubs for Danny Jackson in 1992. The Pirates won the NL East that season but havent been back to the post-season or even had a winning record since. The Pirates will get up to $17.7 million in the deal to offset what could amount to over $30 million in salary for Rodriguez. They are sending Triple-A All-Star Rudy Owens and Colton Cain, both left-handers, and outfielder Robbie Grossman to Houston. "We talked since Day One of the trading season about wanting to improve our club either via pitching or via hitting," Pirates general manager Neal Huntington said. "The pitching market turned out to be more flexible than the hitting market and we decided this was the right move for us." The only player on the Astros roster remaining from their 2005 trip to the World Series, Rodriguez has been a steady presence on a rebuilding ballclub that has the worst record in the majors this year and lost 106 games last season. Signed by the Astros in 1999, he is 80-84 with a 4.04 ERA in eight seasons. Rodriguez is 7-9 with a 3.79 ERA this year. Pittsburgh manager Clint Hurdle believes Rodriguez will be helped by a change of scenery. "Im sure a change of clubhouses for him, a change of the dynamic of being in a situation (a pennant race) he hasnt been in for three or four years should be helpful," Hurdle said. "Ive prepared for him for many years as a manager and as a coach. He has also been a tough pitcher to hit, a tough pitcher to beat. Im very happy that were adding him to our rotation." James McDonald (10-4), who has been a mainstay of the Pirates rotation this season, had his career-best five-game winning streak snapped McDonald was touched for five runs and five hits in six innings while walking three and striking out six. Starlin Castro and Alfonso Soriano both homered. David DeJesus hit a tiebreaking two-run double for Chicago, which had totalled just three runs in its previous four games. DeJesus doubled to left in the fifth inning to put the Cubs ahead 3-1, the hit coming after Maholm drew a two-out walk to load the bases. Geovany Soto and Luis Valbuena, who had both also walked, scored on the double. "I was actually pretty pleased with this outing," McDonald said. "The ball came out of my hand really well. I felt like I had good command of my pitches, especially my curveball. They hit some good pitches and thats going to happen sometimes." Cubs left-hander Paul Maholm pitched eight strong innings Tuesday night to win his fifth straight start. He gave up one run and four hits in handing the Pittsburgh its first consecutive home losses since May 22-23. He struck out seven and walked one. Maholm has allowed just four earned runs in 38 1-3 innings during his winning streak for a 0.94 ERA in that span. The left-hander spent his first seven seasons with the Pirates before signing with the Cubs as a free agent last winter. "Ive made more than a few starts here and I enjoy pitching here," Maholm said of PNC Park. "Obviously, its a pitcher-friendly park and if you make your pitches, its going to work out well for a ground ball guy. I thought I did well and executed my pitches and it always help to get good defence and some runs to work with." Castro hit his ninth homer with one out in the first inning to open the scoring. Pittsburghs Garrett Jones answered with a solo shot in the fourth, his 14th of the season and first off a lefty since last Aug. 16 when he hit a game-ending homer off St. Louis Arthur Rhodes. Sorianos two-run homer in the fifth, his 19th, pushed the Cubs lead to 5-1. Chicago closer Carlos Marmol pitched a scoreless ninth in a non-save situation, working around a leadoff double by Neil Walker and a walk to Andrew McCutchen. The Pirates had provided McDonald with 44 runs of support in six starts during his winning streak. NOTES: Dempster (5-4, 2.11 ERA) is scheduled to start Wednesday against Pittsburgh RHP Kevin Correia in the finale of the three-game series. Dempster leads the major leagues in ERA. ... Matt Garza (strained right triceps) will not make his scheduled start Friday against the Cardinals and will be reevaluated that day. He was removed from his previous start last Saturday at St. Louis after pitching three scoreless innings. The Cubs are optimistic Garza will not need to be placed on the DL. ... Correia will be looking to extend his five-game winning streak, the best of his career. Correia is 6-1 in his last 10 starts since losing five straight starts from April 29-May 20. Cheap Louis Vuitton Outlet . The designated player was acquired in a trade with the Vancouver Whitecaps on July 20 after Danny Koevermans was lost for the season with a knee injury. Louis Vuitton Outlet Sale . Regarded as the fastest man on a bike, the road world champion has not been as successful this year as in previous Tours, as he and his teammates are working to help Wiggins rather than secure stage wins for Cavendish. http://www.cheaplouisvuittonoutl... . The San Francisco Giants will need that trend to continue on Sunday if they want to even their best-of-five National League Division Series against the Cincinnati Reds. [url=http://www.cheaplouisvuittonoutletbiz.com/]Louis Vuitton Outlet . Or anybody else, for that matter. After all, the Eagles rookie quarterback had practiced with the first team all week, and the starter at his position, Michael Vick, hadnt even touched the field since he left it with a concussion six days ago. cheap louis vuitton sale . The 25-year-old German made his F1 debut in 2010 with Williams and captured a pole position in his maiden year. As a Force India driver, Hulkenberg is 12th in the drivers championship.TORONTO -- Toronto FC manager Paul Mariner hopes new defender Darren ODea can help stop the bleeding. The 25-year-old Irish international will make his debut Saturday when the Reds host Sporting Kansas City, and it comes at a time when Toronto is struggling with defensive breakdowns, especially on set pieces. Mariner was livid with his squad on Wednesday after allowing a corner kick goal in the 21st minute of a 2-2 draw with Portland. On Friday, he ran multiple drills on dead ball situations as new face ODea assumed his role as the backlines new "general." "Its quite obvious the team needs to stop conceding so many goals," said ODea. "Theres a lot of publicity about set pieces and in football its tough enough keeping clean sheets without conceding set pieces. Were trying hard not to do that and hopefully we can start tomorrow." Mariner has long preached the importance of a "big boss" on the defence and in ODea, who has 14 caps for the Irish and spent six seasons with Scottish League perennials Celtic, he believes hes found it. "Hes a different specimen," said Mariner. "Its all about habits. Hes got fantastic habits on the field, off the field. You can see the way he commands himself. Hes beautiful for us back there. I think the fans are really going to take to this kid." ODea was signed Aug. 3, but had his debut put on hold first by the rescheduling of Torontos Aug. 11 match against Columbus, allowing for members of the Crew to attend the funeral of former teammate Kirk Urso, and again on Wednesday to due international duties. Ireland played a friendly with Serbia in Belgrade on Wednesday. Less than 48 hours later ODea was on Torontos practice pitch bolstering the defence. "Today was important to get the rubbish out of my legs and shake it off," ODea said. "Ill be ready for tomorrow. Im itching to get going." His first MLS test wont be an easy one, as Eastern Conference-leading Kansas City (13-7-4) looks to win its third straight league game and stay unbeaten in five overall. SKCs last meeting with the Reds was a 2-0 victory at Livestrong Sporting Park in Mariners first game as manager after taking over from Aron Winter.dddddddddddd Toronto is dead last in the Eastern Conference at 5-13-5 and winless in its last three MLS games. Mariner says hes particularly concerned with Sporting midfielder and team assists-leader Graham Zusi, whose service game poses a threat to Torontos wobbly defence on set pieces. "The service is fantastic from Zusi, assuming hes playing, and theyre very aggressive and weve got to match it," said Mariner. "We havent really been matching it and thats been a bit disappointing." After fielding a depleted lineup against the Timbers, Toronto will be back to full strength after a slew of international callups. Forward Ryan Johnson (Jamaica), defender Dicoy Williams (Jamaica), midfielder Terry Dunfield (Canada), defender Doneil Henry (Canada), and defender Logan Emory (suspens