Pirates Drop 4th Straight With Loss to Cardinals; Couldn’t Get Over the Hump Late
PITTSBURGH — The Pittsburgh Pirates fought their way back but couldn’t get over the hump late and saw their losing streak hit four with a 5-4 loss to the St. Louis Cardinals at PNC Park on Wednesday night.
Scoring Plays
Top 3rd, 1-0 STL: JJ Wetherholt doubled to left field off Bubba Chandler (1-3) to score Ramón Urías and give the Cardinals (17-13) the game’s first lead.
Top 5th, 3-0 STL: Iván Herrera hit a two-out double off Chandler and Alec Burleson took advantage with a two-run home run to left-center, his fourth of the season.
Bottom 5th, 3-1 STL: Spencer Horwitz got the Pirates (16-15) a run back with a solo home run off Andre Pallante (3-2). His third homer of the season traveled 397 feet.
Top 7th, 5-1 STL: St. Louis padded its lead with a pair of runs off two Pirates relievers. Herrera plated Victor Scott II with an infield single and scored on a Jordan Walker base hit to left. One run was charged to Evan Sisk, the other to Chris Devenski, who was making his team debut.
Bottom 7th, 5-3 STL: With the bases loaded and one out, pinch-hitter Nick Yorke delivered a two-run single to center off left-hander JoJo Romero.
Bottom 8th, 5-4 PIT: With the bases loaded and one out, Oneil Cruz bounced into a fielder’s choice of George Romero to bring the Pirates within a run.
Key Moments
After cutting the deficit to two, the Pirates again loaded the bases with one out but JoJo Romero prevented any further damage. He struck out Ryan O’Hearn on a questionable check swing call that drew the ire of manager Don Kelly and then got Marcell Ozuna to ground out to third on a 3-2 pitch.
Following Oneil Cruz’s RBI fielder’s choice in the eighth, the Pirates had runners on the corners with two outs but Nick Yorke flew out to right field for the final out of the inning.
Nick Gonzales gave one a ride in the ninth but Nathan Church made his way up against the left field fence on what was nearly a walk-off two-run home run.
Player of the Game
Andre Pallante held the Pirates to one run on five hits with no walks and six strikeouts. His six innings pitched were a season-high.
Stat to Know
Oneil Cruz’s 26 RBI are tied with Xavier Nady (2008) for the second-most by a Pirate in March/April in a single season. Willie Stargell (27, 1971) has the most.
Notable Performances
- Bubba Chandler: 5.0 innings, three hits, three runs, four walks, six strikeouts, 85 pitches/53 strikes
- Spencer Horwitz: 1 for 3, one home run, one RBI, one run, one walk
- Nick Yorke: 1 for 2, two RBI
- Joey Bart: 2 for 3, one run
Noteworthy
- Nick Gonzales extended his hitting streak to a career-long 10 games with a base hit in the bottom of the eighth.
- Joey Bart had his first multi-hit game of the season and first since a four-hit performance against the Athletics last season on Sep. 21.
- The Pirates selected the contract of RHP Chris Devenski and optioned LHP Hunter Barco to Triple-A Indianapolis. RHP Ryan Harbin was designated for assignment.
- RHP Jared Jones threw three-perfect innings and struck out five in his first rehab start for the Bradenton Marauders. 30 of his 41 pitches went for strikes and his fastball averaged 99.1 mph.
Up Next
The Pirates will look to avoid the sweep with RHP Paul Skenes (4-1, 2.48 ERA) on the mound in Thursday’s finale. RHP Hunter Dobbins will make his season debut for the Cardinals. First pitch: 12:35 p.m. ET on SportsNet Pittsburgh, MLB Network/100.1FM & AM 1020.
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