One night after being shutout, the Pittsburgh Pirates were looking to take down the St. Louis Cardinals in an afternoon tilt at Busch Stadium. Starting pitching was good from both sides, but some extra inning offense from Pittsburgh gave them a 6-3 victory and earned them at least a split of this four-game series.
Ke’Bryan Hayes got the Pirates on the board in the first inning with a solo home run to centerfield. St. Louis quickly answered with two runs of their own in the bottom half of the inning. The first came on an Alec Burleson double to right. He would then come in to score when Nolan Gorman hit a sac fly. Pittsburgh was able to tie the game in the third when Connor Joe drew a walk with the bases loaded.
The Cardinals would get a bases loaded walk of their own in the seventh to take a one run lead. Rodolfo Castro then tied the game up at three in the eighth when he doubled to left. That tie would last until the top of the tenth when Andrew McCutchen hit a two-run home run to left centerfield. Castro came through with an RBI single later in the inning for an insurance run.
Roansy Contreras pitched six innings allowing two runs on six hits with three walks and six strikeouts. Rob Zastryzny walked two batters and allowed one run on one hit in a third of an inning of work in the seventh. Robert Stephenson got the other two outs of the inning, while walking and striking out a batter in the process. Colin Holderman struck out two batters in the eighth, while David Bednar got his second win of the year after striking out a batter in the ninth. The save would go to Dauri Moreta after he walked and struck out a batter in the tenth.
Steven Matz pitched 5.2 innings for St. Louis. He would give up two runs on three hits with six strikeouts and five walks. Chris Stratton pitched two innings, allowing one run on two hits with a strikeout. Ryan Helsley collected his second blown save of the year and Jordan Hicks was tagged with the loss.
Seeing McCutchen having heroic moments once again in a Pirates uniform is truly great. Now we will see if these Buccos have what it takes to go into Busch Stadium and take a series from the Cardinals tomorrow afternoon. Starters for that contest will be Mitch Keller Pittsburgh and Miles Mikolas for St. Louis.
Record vs. Cardinals: 2-1
Record vs. N.L. Central: 3-3
Record on the Road: 6-3
Overall Record: 9-6
And…
As Always…
Let’s Go Bucs!
