PITTSBURGH -- Gerrit Cole has picked the right time to start winning -- in the midst of a pennant race. Cole won consecutive starts for the first time since early June, National League batting leader Josh Harrison had three hits, and the surging Pittsburgh Pirates beat the Chicago Cubs 7-3 Friday night for their seventh win in eight games. Cole (9-5) improved to 5-0 against the Cubs, allowing three runs, five hits and one walk in six innings with six strikeouts. He also won at Wrigley Field last weekend. Coles only other consecutive winning starts this year were April 4 and 10, and May 29 and June 3. He also spent two stints on the disabled list, totalling 70 days. Though he wasnt at his best, Cole was able to escape a bases-loaded jam in the sixth inning after Welington Castillos RBI single had pulled the Cubs to 4-3. Cole got Arismendy Alcantara to foul out to the catcher to end the inning. "He has been able to slow himself down and focus on making the next big pitch," Pirates manager Clint Hurdle said of Cole. "He did a good job of the big pitch when he had to." Pittsburgh is 14-7 since Aug. 20, moving a season-high nine games over .500 at 78-69. The Pirates, who were eight games under as late as May 21 (18-26), maintained a 1 1/2-game lead over Milwaukee for the second NL wild card. "Were playing really good baseball right now," shortstop Jordy Mercer said. "Even though weve been scoring runs, it always comes down to pitching and defence and that was the difference." Harrison raised his average to .318 while scoring a pair of runs from the leadoff spot. Mercer also had three hits and drove in three runs, including a two-run single in the sixth that made it 6-3. Neil Walker had a pair of RBI singles for the Pirates, who had 14 hits. Alcantara and fellow rookie Javier Baez homered for the Cubs, who have lost seven straight in their longest skid since 2012. Baez had hit .103 in his previous 10 games and Alcantara batted .130 in his past 14. Tsuyoshi Wada (4-3) gave up four runs and nine hits in 4 1-3 innings. "I thought we put in some pretty good at bats," Cubs manager Rick Renteria said. "I thought, overall, we played a little bit better than we had the previous six games." TRAINERS ROOM Cubs: 1B Anthony Rizzo (lower back strain) took batting practice and ran the bases during a pregame workout but missed his 16th straight game and likely wont return until Monday, when Chicago hosts Cincinnati. Pirates: LF Starling Marte (bruised left elbow) sat out after leaving Thursday nights win at Philadelphia when he was hit by a pitch. RHP Charlie Morton (right hip inflammation/sports hernia) threw 42 pitches in a bullpen session and hopes to pitch in relief. His last major league appearance was on Aug. 15 when he started and lost at Washington. UP NEXT Cubs LHP Felix Doubront (3-5, 5.43) is to make his third start Saturday night since being acquired July 30 from Boston in a trade, facing Pirates LHP Jeff Locke (7-4, 3.60). Doubront went 1-1 with a 2.25 ERA in his first two starts. Locke is 5-1 with a 3.29 ERA in his last seven starts. FATHERHOOD AWAITS Cubs rookie RF Jorge Soler is expected to miss the three-game series after travelling to Miami for the birth of his first child. He has hit .356 with four home runs and 13 RBIs in his first 12 big league games. Vapormax Plus Saldi . The 26-year-old Sobotka injured his left leg playing for the St. Louis Blues in a 3-1 loss to the Carolina Hurricanes on Friday. The Blues said he would not recover from the injury in time for the Olympic tournament. Vapormax Bianche Ingrosso . The star receiver certainly isnt celebrating it with the Texans mired in a franchise-record 13-game skid. http://www.vapormaxscontateoutlet.it/ .C. -- Theyll remember the OT from the first Syracuse-Duke game -- and the Ts that decided Round 2. Nike Vapormax In Offerta . Rob Klinkhammer and Mikkel Boedker scored 63 seconds apart in the first period for the Coyotes, who handed the Kings their third straight loss and took over sole possession of eighth place in the Western Conference. Mike Smith made 36 saves. Vapormax Bianche Saldi .C., has been named Canadas top female official, winning the 2014 SOC Award of Excellence. Cranes career as a figure skating judge has spanned over 40 years.(SportsNetwork.com) - The NHL-leading St. Louis Blues will try to bounce back from their first loss of the month when they host the Edmonton Oilers in Thursdays encounter at Scottrade Center. Watch the Blues vs. Oilers live on TSN starting at 7:30pm et/4:30pm pt. Edmonton, the last-place team in the Western Conference, has done well in its spoiler role lately, winning three of its last four games and posting an 8-3-2 mark over the past 13 outings. The Oilers opened a four-game road trip on Tuesday with a comeback victory over the Minnesota Wild. Edmonton fell behind 3-0 in the first period, but rallied for a 4-3 shootout win at Xcel Energy Center. Edmontons Jeff Petry cut the deficit to 3-1 before the end of the first period. David Perron and Jordan Eberle then tallied over a four-minute span in the third to even things at 3-3. Taylor Hall delivered the winner in the shootout, scoring in the fourth round to complete the rally for Edmonton. After Jason Pominville was stopped by Viktor Fasth, Hall skated in and shot the puck between the pads of Darcy Kuemper for the winner. Fasth stopped 28 shots in the win. &quoot;Im proud of them.dddddddddddd It would have been easy to pack it in but the guys kept scraping and clawing," said Oilers head coach Dallas Eakins. "They were playing an excellent defensive game but we stuck to it." Despite Tuesdays win, the Oilers are just 11-19-5 as the road team this season. The Blues had won five straight to begin March before dropping Tuesdays home overtime decision against Dallas. St. Louis hopes to get back on track tonight against an Edmonton team it has dominated in recent years. With 95 points, the Blues are two points ahead of Anaheim for the top spot in the NHL standings and also hold a four-point edge over Colorado for first place in the Central Division. The Blues are 2-0 against Edmonton in 2013-14 and they can complete a sweep of the season series on Thursday. St. Louis has won seven of eight and 13 of the last 16 meetings in this matchup, but the Oilers did halt a six-game road skid in the series when it posted a 3-0 win at Scottrade Center on March 26 of last season. The Blues had a three-game home winning streak snapped, but are still 23-5-4 in the Gateway City this season. ' ' '