Good Offense Leads to Blowouts, Good Defense Leads to Wins Like That; Pirates Notch 5th Straight

PITTSBURGH — The Pittsburgh Pirates entered Tuesday’s game against the St. Louis Cardinals winners of four in a row. During that streak, the Pirates outscored their opponents 37-4.

The Pirates’ lowly offense came alive in a sweep of the New York Mets over the weekend and kept it rolling in their 7-0 win over the St. Louis Cardinals on Monday night. 

Pittsburgh extended its winning streak to a season-high five games on Tuesday night at PNC Park, but the win came in much different fashion.

The Pirates received more good pitching, but their defense is really what made the difference in a nail biting 1-0 win over the Cardinals.

“They work everyday for it. I think we’ve seen it throughout the year. I think today was just one of the games where we saw it a lot just because we got in positions where they could make really good plays,” said starter Paul Skenes. “I wasn’t surprised to see any of the plays, but definitely pleased with it.”

The defensive clinic started in the third inning, when Skenes was able to escape a runners on the corners with nobody out situation thanks to a really good play behind him.

Alec Burleson hit a soft liner to shortstop Isiah Kiner-Falefa, who caught the ball and quickly fired it to first base once Brendan Donovan wandered too far off. First baseman Spencer Horwitz somehow kept his concentration and was able to reach around a standing Donovan to catch the throw from Kiner-Falefa.

“Incredibly hard play with a runner on third,” said catcher Henry Davis. “A really great game all around from him.”

What an absolutely ridiculous catch by Spencer Horwitz https://t.co/AZkobaz6Va pic.twitter.com/5hwYwJ4edx

— Platinum Ke’Bryan (@PlatinumKey13) July 1, 2025

The following inning, Skenes again found himself in a jam. 

With two on and two out, Cardinals catcher Pedro Pagés hit a single to left field. Tommy Pham fielded the ball and threw a perfect strike home to Davis, easily getting Willson Contreras to keep the scoreless tie intact.

“I got a good view of the throw coming in, and obviously a perfect throw,” said Skenes. “They’re gonna take their chances sending guys, obviously, when they’re not scoring. Glad they sent him there and it was just playing catch after that.”

Tommy Pham CANNON! 🙌 pic.twitter.com/KnAs74WZgl

— Pittsburgh Pirates (@Pirates) July 1, 2025

Oneil Cruz, whose defense has improved in center field as the year’s gone on, made a nice running catch to end the eighth inning and strand a pair of runners on base.

After Cruz’s catch, the Pirates’ went ahead 1-0 on Davis’ sacrifice fly to left-center, but the game-winning run wasn’t all he provided.

David Bednar entered in the top of the ninth to try and close out the win, but things got dicey after Yohel Pozo hit a one-out double to give the Cardinals runners on second and third with one out.

After Pozo, Victor Scott II stepped up to the plate. Scott rolled over on a 2-1 splitter and hit a bouncer to Horwitz at first. José Fermín broke from third base on contact, but Horwitz delivered a perfect throw to Davis, who applied the tag.

The play stood after a replay review.

“Obviously hoping that the review call goes our way,” Davis said on the game-saving play. “Just playing really clean baseball against a really good team, it literally is as simple as playing catch. Trust when we do that, we’ll be in a good position.”

Game-tying run DENIED by Horwitz 😤 pic.twitter.com/F5XObhWYVu

— SportsNet Pittsburgh (@SNPittsburgh) July 2, 2025

The Pirates were able to cruise to each of their last four wins. This one was a little more stressful. If it wasn’t for good defense throughout the game, Pittsburgh would probably be looking to start a new win streak on Sunday.

“Pitching and defense and you know, great defensive plays today,” Kelly said on the win. “Tommy throwing, nailing the runner at home … Spencer later on … just a great team win there and found a way to scratch one across in the eighth and hung on for the win.”