Cubs shut out Pirates for 2nd straight night, 7-0

Keegan Thompson combined with three relievers on a five-hitter, and the Chicago Cubs shut out he Pittsburgh Pirates for the second straight game, a 7-0 win Tuesday night that extended their winning streak to a season-best four. Jonathan Villar hit a go-ahead, solo homer in the third and added an RBI single. Pittsburgh has not scored since the eighth inning Sunday, when the Pirates beat Cincinnati 1-0 despite not getting any hits.

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  Contreras hits 1st-inning slam, Cubs beat Pirates 9-0

  WPXI
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  Chicago Cubs and Pittsburgh Pirates meet in game 2 of series

  WPXI

Asian stocks wobble as growth doubts loom

Asia's stockmarkets struggled to carry recent gains into a fourth straight session on Wednesday and the U.S. dollar steadied, as nagging doubts about inflation and the drag from rate rises crept back in to the global growth outlook. MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan gave up earlier gains to trade around flat by mid-morning. Japan's Nikkei rose 0.3% although miners did help Australian shares up about 0.7%.

Madison Cawthorn loses his seat in Congress after a turbulent two years in office

Cawthorn, the youngest member of Congress, lost his seat in a Republican primary contest