The Pittsburgh Pirates couldn’t complete the three-game series sweep of the St. Louis Cardinals, falling to their N.L. Central division foes by a 6-4 score on Sunday afternoon at Busch Stadium.
Coming off his best start of the season last time on the mound, Johan Oviedo struggled on the mound on Sunday, giving up five runs (three earned) on four hits and six walks through just 3.2 innings. He fell to 8-14 with a 4.27 ERA on the season.
Zach Thompson improved to 4-5 on the season for St. Louis, giving up three runs on seven hits in seven innings. It was another entertaining game as both teams went back and forth, which was the case throughout the weekend’s two other games as well. But on Sunday, the Pirates couldn’t make that final push to victory.
Miguel Andujar’s solo homerun in the second inning gave the Pirates a 1-0 lead, but it was short-lived. Nolan Gorman’s two-run single in the bottom of the second inning put the Cardinals in front 2-1. Jordan Walker’s solo homerun, his 14th of the season, made it 3-1 after three innings.
Pittsburgh tied the game with a pair of runs in the top of the fourth inning. After Connor Joe’s groundout scored Bryan Reynolds, Liover Peguero doubled home Joe to tie the game, 3-3.
Alec Burleson’s two-run single in the fourth made it a 5-3 score, and a single by Richie Palacios scored Walker in the seventh to make it 6-3. The Pirates scored a run in the top of the eighth to cut the lead to two runs, but they couldn’t complete a comeback as the Cardinals held on for the victory.
This was a disappointing end to a great road trip for the Pirates. They fell one game short of back-to-back sweeps. Still, it was another series victory for this team, who is playing better baseball as they return home to Pittsburgh to begin another divisional series at PNC Park, this time against the first-place Milwaukee Brewers.
Record vs. Cardinals: 9-4
Record vs. N.L. Central: 19-24
Record on the Road: 31-38
Overall Record: 63-74
And…
As Always…
Let’s Go Bucs!
