Jeff Karstens was chased after three innings of the Pirates' 12-3 loss to the Chicago Cubs tonight at PNC Park before 14,454.

It was the Pirates' fifth loss in a row, their 17th in 24 games since the Xavier Nady and Jason Bay trades stripped the team not only of its offense but also, apparently, of much of its fire.

Karstens, further removed from that perfect-game flirtation with each passing start, exited with a 5-0 Chicago lead, including Aramis Ramirez's three-run liner into the left-field bleachers in the third. He gave up six hits and a walk, fell behind 13 of his 16 batters and never came close to looking comfortable.

Jason Davis was shelled for five more runs over the next two innings.

Andy LaRoche went 0 for 4 with two strikeouts to extend his hitless streak to 23 at-bats, and he continued to wobble in the field.

The only pulse came from Brandon Moss, who homered and doubled off Ted Lilly, and Adam LaRoche, with a two-run shot above the Clemente Wall. The latter was LaRoche's 18th home run, sixth in his past 14 games.