PITTSBURGH -- All eyes were supposed to be on Gregory Polanco. Khalil Mack Womens Jersey . 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). Tarik Cohen Bears Jersey . MLB.com reported that the Dodgers locked the left-hander in for one year at $10 million with up to $4 million in incentives. Jim McMahon Youth Jersey . Pinch-hitter Tommy Medica singled in the go-ahead run in the eighth inning and the Padres beat the Seattle Mariners 2-1 in their first home game since Gwynn died of cancer Monday. http://www.bearsrookiestore.com/Bears-Tom-Waddle-Jersey/ . As Valanciunas was whistled for a rare technical toward the end of the third quarter - a result of waving his hand at an official after being called for a foul - Lowry pulled the Raptors sophomore aside, corralling him by his jersey and patting him on the back.KREISCHBERG, Austria - Australian snowboarder Scotty James won the halfpipe world title, while Cai Xuetong of China won the womens competition on Saturday.James earned 91.50 points in his first run of a rain-soaked final. As that score remained unmatched by his competitors, James was already secured of the gold medal before his final run, which he used to exchange high fives with spectators along the pipe.Its an amazing day and I am so, so stoked to come away with the win, the 20-year-old James said after clinching his first major title. I knew I was in first place before my last run and my coach said, Do what you want. I love it when the fans come out and watch us, so giving them a little high five on the way down was awesome.Zhang Yiwei of China won silver with 89.50, and Tim-Kevin Ravnjak of Slovenia took bronzee with 89. David Montgomery Womens Jersey. 25.Defending world and Olympic champion Iouri Podladtchikov of Switzerland placed fourth in his first competition since the Sochi Games. The Russian-born athlete, nicknamed I-Pod, underwent ankle surgery following a training crash in November, and came five points short of the podium.Cai won the womens event with 94.25 points. The world junior champ in 2009 has won six World Cups, but none since February 2012.Queralt Castellet of Spain scored 81.25 for silver, and Clemence Grimal of France gained 80.25 for the bronze medal.Pre-race favourite Torah Bright of Australia, who won Olympic gold in Vancouver in 2010 and silver in Sochi last year, finished sixth and last in the final.The next medal event of the snowboard and freestyle skiing world championships is the moguls on Sunday. ' ' '