Pirates Cap Off 2022 Season With 5-3 Comeback Win Over Cardinals

PITTSBURGH — A day after blowing a four-run lead to the St. Louis Cardinals, the Pittsburgh Pirates returned the favor on Wednesday evening at PNC Park.

The Pirates stormed back from down three runs to take down the Redbirds 5-3 in the final game of the 2022 season.

“We played well. We came back we were down. We played well this entire series so I’m proud of how our guys finished,” manager Derek Shelton said.

Rodolfo Castro got the Pirates on the board in the bottom of the third with an RBI single to left. Scoring on the play was Ji-hwan Bae.

Miguel Andújar began a four-run fourth inning with a triple into the notch and came home to score on a wild pitch. It was the second of three hits on the night for Andújar, his first three-hit performance since last June while with the Yankees.

“My focus is everyday to do my job and help my team to win,” Andújar said. “That’s the goal for me.”

Later in the inning, Diego Castillo ripped a double to left-center and Oneil Cruz came all the way around from first to tie the game at three. Castillo roped a pair of doubles, finishing the game 2 for 4.

Bae put the Pirates ahead with an RBI groundout to first, and Kevin Newman followed with an RBI single to left field as the Bucs took a 5-3 lead.

Two batters into the game, the Cardinals (93-69) jumped out in front. Tommy Edman followed Lars Nootbaar’s double with an RBI single to left.

St. Louis added another in the inning when Edman scored from second on a fielding error by Castillo at first.

Nolan Arenado plated Edman in the third inning with an opposite-field single to extend the Cardinals lead 3-0.

After a scoreless fourth inning, Johan Oviedo gave way to the bullpen. Oviedo allowed three runs (two earned) in four innings in his seventh start of the season with the Pirates.

“This is a big strong kid that has the ingredients to make a good starting pitcher in the major leagues,” said Shelton.

Yohan Ramirez closed it out in the ninth with his first save of the year.

Former Cardinals’ pitcher Junior Fernandez (1-0) was awarded the win for the Pirates after throwing a scoreless fifth inning.

Yaider Molina received a standing ovation from the crowd as he made his final regular season appearance.

With that, the 2022 Pirates’ season comes to a close. The Bucs finish one game better than last year’s mark with a record of 62-100.