nd that guy to get back, what kind of mindset is that? You come

PITTSBURGH -- Josh Bell gave his veteran manager goose bumps. He fired up a sellout crowd at PNC Park, too.Bells grand slam in his second major-league at bat was one of four homers by the Pittsburgh Pirates in a 12-6 win over the Chicago Cubs on Saturday night.Bell slugged a 1-1 pitch from Adam Warren (3-2) over the seats perched above the 21-foot wall in right for his second pinch-hit in two games since being recalled from Triple-A on Friday.What a fantastic sequence, said the Pirates Clint Hurdle, who has more than 1,000 managerial wins. I got goose bumps. Ive got them probably a dozen times since Ive been a coach or a manager.Chills went down my spine. ... Seemed like the stadium was pretty excited, too.Jordy Mercer followed Bells slam with a home run to make it a five-run fifth for the Pirates, who have won nine of 10 and 12 of their last 15 to move within 6 1/2 games of Chicago in the National League Central.Andrew McCutchen and Sean Rodriguez homered earlier off suddenly struggling Cubs starter Jon Lester, the National League pitcher of the month for June. Lester has allowed 13 runs in 4 1/3 innings in July, including five in three innings Saturday.Terrible. Unacceptable. Letdown, Lester said, describing his outing. Offense gives me two runs early and then gives me runs again -- and then I give it right back. Obviously a letdown, not only for myself but for the team.Ben Zobrist had a two-run homer and Anthony Rizzo had four hits for Chicago, which has lost nine of 10 and seen its division lead dwindle to as small as its been since May.I feel like were fortunate to be (up 6 1/2 games) right now, actually, manager Joe Maddon said. I dont believe its a negative; I think its a positive.Chad Kuhl lasted only 2 1/3 innings in his third major-league start, surrendering Zobrists 13th home run among seven hits allowed. But Pittsburghs bullpen was much better as Arquimedes Caminero (1-2) struck out three in 1 2/3 innings and Jared Hughes earned his third major-league save by pitching three scoreless innings.At least one run was scored during eight of the first 11 half-innings played on a night in which the city of Pittsburgh celebrated its bicentennial. A 25-minute fireworks display set off just a few hundred yards away at the citys Point State Park provided a soundtrack of regular rumbling booms throughout the fifth inning in which Bell and Mercer thrilled the Pirates third sellout crowd of the season even more.Over the past 10 days, the Pirates have scaled more than half of the 14-game hole it had dug in the NL Central. Before Saturdays game, Maddon said that he learned from former mentor John McNamara long ago that once a division lead became fewer than seven games, it was no longer safe.We werent walking away with our heads down, feeling sorry for ourselves when we were getting beat through June, Hurdle said, and were not going to do backflips now. Were going to keep playing.ALL-STAR COMINGS AND GOINGSCubs OF Dexter Fowler backed out of playing in Tuesdays All-Star game as a precaution as he recovers from a strained right hamstring that has him on the disabled list.Pirates OF Starling Marte was announced as one of the NL roster replacements along with the Reds Jay Bruce for Fowler and the Mets Yoenis Cespedes.ROSTER MOVEThe Cubs recalled INF Munenori Kawasaki from Triple-A and Saturdayand optioned INF Jeimer Candelario to Iowa. Maddon said the move was made to give the team a more experienced bat off the bench.TRAINERS ROOMCubs: Maddon said Fowler did not experience a setback in a minor-league rehab appearance Friday. He also said he would have had no problem if Fowler had made his return from the disabled list in the All-Star game and not for the Cubs -- as long as he was well enough to play, and then we got him on Friday.Pirates: OF Gregory Polanco did not play a day after being removed from a win because of an aggravation of nagging left hamstring tightness. Manager Clint Hurdle indicated Polanco likely wont start Sunday, either. ... 2B Josh Harrison was lifted from the game in the third inning. The team termed the reason as left foot discomfort. Harrison drove in a run the inning prior when he was hit with a fastball in the foot.UP NEXTCubs: Sunday starter RHP John Lackey has gone 0-2 with a 7.56 ERA in his past three starts after going 7-3 with a 2.78 ERA in his first 14 startsPirates: LHP Jonathon Niese has lost his past two home starts, allowing 13 earned runs in 11 1/3 innings during them.Vans Sk8 Hi Sale Mens . However, he did make them miss him a little less. Cundiff, who had the unenviable job of replacing Dawson last season, agreed Thursday to a one-year, $1. Cheap Vans Old Skool . What general manager Dave Nonis called "short and productive" negotiations ended with Kessel signing a US$64-million, eight-year contract on Tuesday. http://www.cheapoldskoolwholesale.com/ . -- Playing time has been limited for Maxim Tissot this season, so the Montreal Impact defender made the most of his first scoring opportunity on Saturday. Cheap Vans Old Skool White .com) - The Calgary Flames aim to bounce back from their first regulation home loss of the campaign on Friday night when they host a Detroit Red Wings club that they swept in three meetings a season ago. Wholesale Vans Authentic . He said Tuesday thats a big reason why he is now the new coach of the Tennessee Titans. Whisenhunt said he hit it off quickly with Ruston Webster when interviewing for the job Friday night.LOS ANGELES -- Two struggling teams trying to find themselves meet Friday night at Staples Center.The Los Angeles Lakers and the Phoenix Suns both looked like lost causes lately.The Lakers, who are on a four-game slide, were handed a humiliating 134-95 loss at Houston on Wednesday, the third time they lost by 30 or more points. The Rockets converted 28 Los Angeles turnovers into 42 points and blew the game open by outscoring their counterparts 39-22 in the third quarter.We just didnt compete, Lakers guard Lou Williams told the Los Angeles Times. Williams scored a team-high 24 points but committed six turnovers in the defeat. Simple game to me. Any time you ask me questions, Im not going to give you answers about numbers. Its a simple game. You play hard, play smart, you play together, you give yourself an opportunity to win. We didnt do any of those things.Injuries continue to hamper the Lakers (10-14). They remain without starting point guard DAngelo Russell (sore left knee), starting shooting guard Nick Young (calf strain, right leg), backup guard Jose Calderon (right hamstring strain) and reserve center/forward Tarik Black (right ankle sprain). None of the four is expected to be available against the Suns.Without them, Los Angeles bench, which started out as the most productive in the NBA, is severely depleted. Instead, Lakers coach Luke Walton has been forced to use eight different starting lineups in the past 11 games, including a stretch of five variations in five conseecutive contests.ddddddddddddbviously were missing key players, youre gonna lose games, Walton said, according to the Times, but if were just sitting around as a team saying, Hey, lets just wait for Nick and DAngelo and this guy and that guy to get back, what kind of mindset is that? You come out and you play hard.The Suns (6-16) are in the midst of a parallel slump. Phoenix dropped its past three games and five of its past six, a 109-94 setback at home to the Indiana Pacers being the latest debacle.The Suns are off to one of their worst starts in the past 20 years.We just didnt execute and they did, said Suns guard Devin Booker, who scored 13 points against the Pacers. That was the difference in the game. It comes down to stops. We didnt get those. We know were not the most talented team in the league, so we know every game has to be a dogfight for us. Thats what we have to do.As with the Lakers, defense is one of the problems for Phoenix. The Suns rank 29th in points allowed (113 per game) and are tied for 25th in opponents field-goal shooting (46.4 percent).Los Angeles are giving up an average of 110.3 points per game (27th), and they rank last in opposing teams shooting (48 percent).The Lakers are 26th in turnovers (16.4 per game), and the Suns are 25th (16.3).In their initial meeting on Nov. 6 at Staples, the Lakers defeated the Suns 119-108. ' ' '