The Pittsburgh Pirates struck early and held on for a 4-3 victory over the Chicago Cubs on Saturday afternoon, their seventh consecutive win against their division rivals.

The Pirates grabbed a 3-0 lead in the first on an RBI single by Andrew McCutchen and a two-run double by Ryan Church in beating Chicago for the fifth time this season.

Pittsburgh starter Paul Maholm (3-3) went six strong innings, allowing two runs on eight hits. D.J. Carrasco and Joel Hanrahan each worked scoreless innings out of the bullpen to get to closer Octavio Dotel, who earned his seventh save.

Maholm's only mistake was a two-run double to Aramis Ramirez that cut the lead to 3-2 in the third, but the Cubs didn't get any closer.

Cubs starter Ryan Dempster (2-4) settled in after his rocky first inning and didn't allow a run for the remainder of his seven-inning stint. He gave up four hits and five walks and struck out nine.

Jeff Clement hit a solo homer in the top of the ninth off Carlos Marmol to give the Pirates some insurance -- and they needed it.

Kosuke Fukudome's RBI triple off Dotel with one out in the ninth made it 4-3, but Dotel struck out Ryan Theriot and Marlon Byrd to strand the tying run at third.