Comeback Falls Short; Pirates Lose to Cardinals 5-4 on Fireworks Night

The first two outs of the fourth inning were rather routine, with Quintana getting Yadier Molina to fly out and Edmundo Sosa to strike out; this all led to a Corey Dickerson cue shot down the third-base line for a two-out double.

Quintana then faced Tommy Edman with two outs and a full count with Paul Goldshmidt on deck. Edman smacked a sharp ground ball to right field, scoring Dickerson, giving the Cardinals a 5-2 lead at the time. 

That fifth run proved vital as the Cardinals held on to their lead despite the Pirates’ best efforts. The Cardinals beat the Pirates on fireworks night 5-4.   

Quintana did not have his best stuff or even the best of luck during his outing Saturday night. Between Hayes’ sixth error in the second inning or squeakers getting through, Quintana was laboring early in the game. 

At times Quintana’s curveball looked lights out, and other times it wouldn’t break the way he wanted the ball to do. Quintana’s day was cut short after three and two-thirds innings pitched. Not ideal from the 33-year-old veteran.

Quintana’s final line read 3.2 innings pitched, seven hits, five runs, two earned, one walk, and four strikeouts. Underwood replaced Quintana to get the final out of the fourth inning. 

A Ke’Bryan Hayes error off a Yadier Molina liner allowed Juan Yepez to score. A Sosa single and a Goldshmidt double increased the Cardinals’ lead to 4-0 in the second inning.

Ben Gamel scored in the second inning after a wild pitch from Matt Liberator, and then Yoshi Tsutsugo delivered a double, driving in Diego Castillo, cutting the Cardinals’ lead 4-2.

Bryan Reynolds achieved something rare in the fifth inning by bouncing a ball off the left-field wall rolling long enough for both Hayes and Reynolds for a two-run inside the park home run. The Cardinals’ lead in the fifth was reduced to one at 5-4. 

Takeaways  

Reynolds Looks Better- In Reynolds’ last seven games, his batting average is .269 with a respectable on-base percentage of .321. Saturday night Reynolds went 2-4 with two RBIs  

Wil Crowe Was Perfect- In two innings of work, Crowe looked flawless, striking out four out of the six batters he faced. Crowe needs to stick in this role and abandon the opener idea.

Jack Suwinski Has Bad Luck- Although Suwinski didn’t get a hit Saturday, two out of his four outs were loud. One out was 96.2 mph in exit velocity, while the other was stung at 102.7 mph. Tough break, young blood.