The Pittsburgh Pirates took a series from the St. Louis Cardinals tonight with a 5-4 victory. This was the first time that Pittsburgh had won two games in a row since defeating the Philadelphia Phillies in two straight games at the end of July. This was a back-and-forth game with the Pirates using a three run seventh inning to earn the win.
After two scoreless innings, Pittsburgh jumped on the board in the third on a Kevin Newman solo home run that traveled 383 ft. to left center. St. Louis would quickly answer in the bottom half of the inning on a Paul Goldschmidt RBI double to right center. Yoshi Tsutsugo grabbed the lead back for the Pirates with a solo home run of his own to center.
The Cardinals would use two runs in the sixth inning to grab their only lead of the day. Yadier Molina tied the game with an RBI single to left. A double by Edmundo Sosa would drive in Lars Nootbar to take a one run lead. The lead did not last long for St. Louis. In the seventh Ke’Bryan Hayes drove in two runs with a single to right. Hayes would then score when Tsutsugo singled to left center. The Cardinals attempted a comeback in the seventh with a run off a sac fly by Tyler O’Neill. Thankfully that was the final run of the night for St. Louis.
The Pirates got a solid start from Dillon Peters who pitched five innings, allowing one run on three hits to go with three strikeouts and a walk. J.A. Happ worked six innings for the Cardinals allowing two runs on six hits with eight strikeouts and one walk. Nick Mears allowed two runs on three hits while collecting two outs in the sixth. Chasen Shreve collected the final out of that inning via strikeout. Chad Kuhl pitched the seventh and allowed one run on three hits with two strikeouts. Chris Stratton worked a scoreless eighth, while David Bednar earned his first save of the season in the ninth. Genesis Cabrera was tagged with the loss after allowing three runs on four hits in the seventh.
Overall, this was a solid win for Pittsburgh. The pitching kept St. Louis in check, but the offense was able to capitalize when it had opportunities to maintain the lead. The Pirates wrap up this road trip and series tomorrow afternoon at 2:15pm. Pittsburgh will be looking to do something that they haven’t accomplished since August of 2020, sweep a series.
Record vs. Cardinals: 5-9
Record vs. N.L. Central: 15-40
Record on the Road: 20-44
Overall Record: 44-79
And…
As Always…
Let’s Go Bucs!
