CHICAGO - On his return to Wrigley Field as a Chicago Cub, Greg Maddux had trouble finding a familiar spot - the plate.

Wild and ineffective, Maddux's homecoming was upstaged on a cold and windy Monday by Kris Benson and the Pittsburgh Pirates, who rolled to a 13-2 victory in Chicago's home opener.

"When you don't throw the ball where you want to throw it, it kind of takes the fun out of the game," said Maddux, who walked five, hit a batter and gave up eight hits and six runs in 3

innings.

"I made some good pitches that got hit and I made some bad pitches that got hit harder. I didn't throw the ball the way I wanted to. At the same time, you feel like you let a lot of people down," Maddux added.

"The frustrating part was that I felt good. I really did."

But so did Benson, who allowed just one hit in six superb innings to get his first victory since May 27, 2003.

"It's almost been a year, so it feels really good," said Benson, whose season a year ago was cut short by shoulder problems. "They made it easy on me getting out there and scoring a bunch of runs early."

Pittsburgh had 17 hits in Chicago's first home game since losing in the NLCS.

Making his first appearance at Wrigley in a Cubs uniform since Sept. 30, 1992, Maddux (0-2) got a rousing ovation when he was introduced as he was warming up in the bullpen.

Maddux left the Cubs in 1992 after winning the first of four straight Cy Young Awards, then helped the Atlanta Braves to 10 straight first-place finishes and the 1995 World Series championship.

His decision to return to Chicago had Cubs' fans ecstatic. But he's yet to win in two starts.

"Mechanically I felt good. Mentally I felt good. It just didn't go where I was aiming it," he said.

Maddux didn't blame the cold - game-time temperature of 41 degrees and a wind blowing in off Lake Michigan at 15 to 24 mph - for his struggles against a team he's dominated in recent starts.

In his four previous games against the Pirates, Maddux had held them to one earned run in 33 innings.

"Everyone was excited to face the guy," said the Pirates' Jack Wilson, who was 3-for-7 and now has hit in all seven of Pittsburgh's games.

"He's a Hall of Famer and you have that extra energy. When he got the ball up, we took advantage of it and hit the ball hard."

Benson (1-0) gave up a first-inning infield single to Sammy Sosa that went off third baseman Chris Stynes' glove and a pair of unearned runs before leaving for a pinch-hitter in the seventh. The Cubs had only two more hits.

The Pirates loaded the bases against Maddux in the second, third and fourth innings.

"He's human," Chicago manager Dusty Baker said. "Everybody wants to get off to a good start. I'm not worried about Greg. He'll figure it out and be the Maddux we know and expect."

In the second, Craig Wilson reached on an infield hit to third, Jose Castillo singled and then Maddux walked Benson to load the bases.

Jack Wilson doubled in a run and Jason Kendall hit a two-run single as boos could be heard at Wrigley Field. And when Kendall stole second and then came all the way home on catcher Paul Bako's errant throw, it looked like the Cubs of old.

Chicago got two back in the second when the Pirates played with cold hands. After a walk, Jack Wilson made back-to-back errors at short and then Castillo made an errant throw to first on Maddux's double-play grounder, helping the Cubs cut the lead to 5-2.

But Maddux's struggles continued in the fourth when he walked Craig Wilson with the bases loaded to make it 6-2 and then was removed. It was the first time since May 15, 1993 that Maddux walked in a run. That's the kind of day he had.