Pirates Win Streak Snapped in Walk-Off Loss to Cardinals; Impressive Homer to End It

Danny Demilio   |  

Aug 25, 2025

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Sometimes you just have to tip your cap.

The Pittsburgh Pirates tied the game in the top of the ninth inning but were walked off 7-6 by the St. Louis Cardinals on Alec Burleson homer to center field in the bottom of the ninth on Monday night at Busch Stadium

How We Got There

Pirates reliever Dennis Santana (4-5) retired the first two batters he faced on two pitches in the ninth. He then  threw a well-located 1-1 slider to Burleson , who clubbed the down and in pitch over the fence in straightaway center field.

Spencer Horwitz plated Ronny Simon from third with a groundout to short in the top of the first. The Cardinals (65-67) evened the score on Nathan Church’s sac fly in the second.

Bryan Reynolds hit a two-run homer in the top of the third off Cardinals starter Michael McGreevy. Horwitz gave the Pirates (57-75) back-to-back home runs and a 4-1 lead with a solo homer to right-center three pitches later.

The Cardinals scored five runs off reliever Andrew Heaney to take a 6-4 lead in the fifth inning. Pirates starter Johan Oviedo allowed one run across four innings.

With one out in the top of the ninth, Simon drove in Liover Peguero with a double to right field to tie the game 6-all.

Key Moment

The Pirates had the bases loaded with nobody out down 6-4 in the seventh but only managed to score one run. Ronny Simon struck out, Nick Gonzales hit a sacrifice fly and Bryan Reynolds went down swinging to end the inning.

Player of the Game

Alec Burleson ended his night with four hits and sent Cardinals fans home happy.

Stat to Know

Andrew Heaney has a 9.21 ERA (43er/42ip) over his last 12 appearances dating back to the second game of a doubleheader against the Detroit Tigers on June 19.

Notable Performances

• Johan Oviedo: 4.0 innings, three hits, one run, one walk, five strikeouts, 53 pitches/35 strikes
• Andrew Heaney: 0.2 innings, five hits, five runs, no walks, one strikeout, 31 pitches/24 strikes
• Bryan Reynolds: 2 for 5, one home run, one double, two RBI, one run
• Spencer Horwitz: 1 for 2, one home run, two RBI, one run, one walk, one sac fly
• Ronny Simon: 2 for 5, one double, one RBI, one run
• Jared Triolo: 2 for 4

Noteworthy

• The Pirates entered play winners of four in a row and five of their last six.
• This was the third time this season the Pirates hit back-to-back homers and the first since Oneil Cruz and Tommy Pham did against the New York Mets on June 29.
• Nick Gonzales extended his hitting streak to nine games. Jared Triolo extended his to six and has multiple hits in each of his last four games.

Up Next

RHP Mitch Keller (5-12, 4.34 ERA) starts for the Pirates in the second game of the series on Tuesday night. RHP Andre Pallante (6-11, 5.17 ERA) goes for the Cardinals. First pitch: 7:45 p.m. ET.