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All good things must come to an end, and tonight the great story that was the 2013 Pittsburgh Pirates has seen its final chapter written.  The Buccos came up short tonight in a 6-1 loss to the St. Louis Cardinals. 

Cards starter Adam Wainwright was lights out tonight in pitching a complete game.  He would allow one run on eight hits, while striking out six and walking one batter.  That lone run came in the seventh with Pittsburgh down 3-0.  Pedro Alvarez would hit an infield single off the first base bag to bring home that lone run.  In doing so, Alvarez became the first player in MLB history to record an RBI in his first six playoff games. 

The Pirates offense had their chances but diving catches, double plays and a disputed call at first shut the door on them throughout the nigh...

Wow, what a series this has been.  The Pittsburgh Pirates and St. Louis Cardinals have played each other as tough as could be possibly imagined.  After a blowout win by the Cards in Game One and blowout win for the Bucs in Game Two, they have battled each other in two incredibly close games at PNC Park in the past two days.  And not unexpectedly, they split those two games as well.

Today, it was a pitchers’ duel at it’s very best…and Michael Wacha and the Cardinals were just a little better, outlasting Charlie Morton and the Pirates, 2-1, forcing a win or go home Game Five at Busch Stadium.

Wacha was brilliant today, taking a no-hitter into the eighth inning.  Morton was also up to the challenge, holding the Cards in check throughout most of the game...

No one will ever mistake PNC Park for Wimbeldon but in game three of the National Leage Division Series, it sure felt like a tennis match.  The Pittsburgh Pirates jumped out to an early lead only to see the St. Louis Cardinals tie it up.  That sequence would be repeated one more time before the Buccos put them away in the eighth for a 5-3 win.

Key hits were the answer for Pittsburgh all game long.  In the first inning, with two outs, Andrew McCutchen would walk and Justin Morneau would hit an infield single then move up ninety feet on a fielding error.  That would allow Marlon Byrd to continue his hot postseason with a two RBI single past third.

St. Louis has their own hot postseason bat in Carlos Beltran.  He would tie the game in the fifth on a single to center.  After Russell Mart...

Throughout the course of this long, 162 game regular season, we, as fans, tend to over-dramatize things, calling numerous games “must wins”.  But after a 9-1 blowout loss in Game One of the NLDS yesterday afternoon at Busch Stadium, the Pittsburgh Pirates needed to beat the St. Louis Cardinals this afternoon.  And so a day after their veteran pitcher was tagged and bounced in the third inning, they turned to their rookie prospect ace Gerrit Cole.

Cole continued his incredible work on the mound today, keeping the Cardinals in check, while the offense came alive off St. Louis starter Lance Lynn, as the Pirates beat the Cards 7-1 to bring the series even at a game a piece.

In the biggest game of his young career, Cole pitched phenomenally, giving up just one run on two hits and one wal...

The Pittsburgh Pirates went from the highest of highs, to the lowest of lows in under 48 hours.  After an unreal night at PNC Park Tuesday night they kicked off the National League Division series Thursday afternoon against the St. Louis Cardinals.  St. Louis showed why they won the division with a convincing 9-1 victory at Busch Stadium.

The first two innings were pretty even for both ball clubs, but the third inning saw the Cardinals jump out to a 7-0 lead.  It all began when Bucco starter A.J. Burnett walked his mound opponent Adam Wainwright.  That was followed by a single and then a three run homer by Carlos Beltran.  The onslaught continued with a double, hit batter, and walk to load the bases.  Jon Jay then was walked to bring in the fourth run of the inning and Burnett’s day...