CHICAGO -- A chance to pull within five games of the first-place Chicago Cubs was squandered Wednesday afternoon with a 5-4 loss at Wrigley Field, and the Pirates knew exactly who was to blame. Not pitcher Jeff D'Amico, who gave up a three-run homer to Damian Miller on an 0-2 pitch and a first-pitch, two-run homer to Alex Gonzalez. Not Randall Simon or Abraham Nunez, who stranded the tying run at second base in the eighth and ninth innings, respectively. Not Cubs starter Mark Prior, who improved to 3-0 in four career starts against the Pirates. And certainly not Kenny Lofton, whose 25-game hitting streak never had a chance to leave the bench. First base umpire Bill Hohn, that's who drew the wrath of the Pirates. A call by Hohn went against the Pirates, prolonged the second inning and resulted in Miller hitting his two-out, three-run homer that wiped out a 2-0 deficit and gave the Cubs the lead for good. It helped the Cubs salvage the final game of the series and break the Pirates' three-game winning streak. Hee Seop Choi opened the second with a grounder to short. Nunez's throw was high, and Simon had to strain to reach for the ball. Still, his foot never left the bag, and he caught the ball a step before Choi arrived at first. Somehow, Hohn called him safe. "It wasn't even close," said Pirates manager Lloyd McClendon, who was ejected shortly after Miller's fly ball landed in the basket above the left-field ivy. "From my vantage point and from the replay ... as a big-league umpire, you can't miss that play. You cost a team on the road that's battling, you cost them three runs. To me, that's disgusting." Simon protested immediately and so did McClendon. "I'm positive we got him," Simon said. "It's tough to take because we've been playing such good ball." Even Choi, with his broken English, said Hohn was wrong. "I watch TV - out," Choi said. D'Amico retired the next two batters before giving up a single to Mark Bellhorn. He was ahead 0-2 on Miller, but tried to sneak a fastball over the inside corner. The pitch darted across the middle. Miller, the Cubs eighth hitter who was in a 7-for-47 slump, sent it skyward for his fifth homer. "At the time, it seemed like a pretty insignificant call," D'Amico said. "To lose a one-run game because of it is frustrating. I'm sure (Hohn) will realize he blew the call, but that doesn't make it any easier to take." McClendon kept chirping from the dugout until he was ejected by Hohn after Prior checked his swing on an 0-2 pitch. "The only thing I ask is for my players to bust their (rear ends) and give 100 percent from the first pitch of the ballgame to the last," McClendon said. "In this industry, we're all held accountable for what we do. I think the umpires should be held accountable, too. "That's not a hard call. That's not a difficult call at all. For me, it just disgusts me. I've probably said too much. My guy pitched his (rear end) off. It's a shame he gets three runs because of that call." Hohn's ruling wasn't the only one that upset McClendon. From the television in his tiny office in the visiting clubhouse, he watched home plate umpire Tim Timmons call Brian Giles out on a throw from third in the sixth. Giles was trying to score on a ground ball. The Pirates were trailing 5-2 at the time, but the out was magnified when they added two more runs against Prior (6-2) in the eighth. "Go to the replays and make the decision for yourself," McClendon said. "The fact is, Giles' foot is on the plate and the guy tags him in the chest. Again, we're all held accountable. Do your job, that's all I ask. Just bear down and do your job." The home runs by Miller and Gonzalez -- his two-run shot came in the fourth -- were among the five hits the Cubs had in the game. D'Amico (4-5) retired the final 11 batters he faced, but the damage was enough to send him to his first career loss against the Cubs. Coming in, he was 6-0 with a 1.44 ERA in six starts. "It sucks," D'Amico said. "I'd rather to be 7-0 than 6-1." The Pirates nearly got D'Amico off the hook in the eighth. Jack Wilson opened with a pinch-hit double and scored on Jeff Reboulet's RBI single. Giles lined to center for the second out, but Aramis Ramirez doubled off the left-field wall to score Reboulet and extend his hitting streak to 12 games. Left-handed relief specialist Mike Remlinger was brought in to face Simon. Kevin Young was in the dugout, but bench coach Pete Mackanin stayed with Simon, who flied to left for the third out. Left-handers were batting .258 with three homers against Remlinger, while right-handers were batting .133 with no homers. "That's pretty significant," McClendon said. Right-handed closer Joe Borowski faced five batters in the ninth before pocketing his 10th save by stranding runners on first and second. None of those five batters, however, was Lofton, owner of a hitting streak that is the longest in the National League this season. "Other guys certainly are capable of doing the job," McClendon said. Nunez, who ironically had replaced Lofton in the leadoff spot, completed an 0-for-5 day by grounding to second for the final out. "I thought we had some good at-bats and we certainly made things interesting," McClendon said. "We just couldn't get the big hit when we needed it."

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