McCutchen’s RBI Sparks Three-Run 10th Inning; Pirates Defeat Cardinals 4-2

Andrew McCutchen stepped to the plate as a pinch hitter for the Pittsburgh Pirates in a tie game in the top of the 10th inning. McCutchen bounced one up the middle, enabling Endy Rodriguez to score from third in what was ruled a fielder’s choice and an error.

The Pirates added on two more runs in the inning thanks to some small ball and held on to defeat the St. Louis Cardinals 4-2 at Busch Stadium in 10 innings on Friday night.

Recap

After Jason Delay struck out for the first out of the extra frame, Liover Peguero scored on a wild pitch from Jojo Romero to add on another run for the Pirates . With one out and runners on the corners after a Ji Hwan Bae infield single, Bryan Reynolds plated McCutchen with a sacrifice fly to right to put the Pirates ahead 4-1.

Masyn Wynn, the Cardinals’ automatic runner, scored in the bottom of the 10th on a Paul Goldschmidt sacrifice fly. David Bednar recorded the final out for his 30th save of the season.

Following a Peguero two-out walk in the second inning, Alfonso Rivas doubled to right field and Peguero scored after an aggressive send from third base coach Mike Rabelo. The RBI two-bagger put the Pirates out in front 1-0.

Mitch Keller turned in another solid start for the Pirates. The right-hander worked 6.0 innings and allowed one run. In his outing, Keller allowed five hits, walked three and struck out eight batters.

Willson Contreras blasted a solo shot to center field off of Keller in the bottom of the sixth inning to tie the game 1-1.

With the win, the Pirates extend their winning streak to four games through the first four games of their current road trip.

Key Moment 

With two runners on and two outs in the third inning, Peguero made a fantastic grab in shallow center field with his back to the infield to rob Nolan Gorman of a hit and at least one RBI. At the plate, Peguero collected two hits and drew a walk.

Star of the Game

Pegeruo did a little bit of everything. He showed off his bat, his speed and his defensive abilities in the win.

Stat to Know

After striking out eight, Keller now has 177 strikeouts on the season. That’s the third-most all-time in a single season for a Pirates’ right-handed pitcher. Only A.J. Burnett (209) and Gerrit Cole (196) have more.

Noteworthy

• With their 62nd win of the season, the Pirates have matched their 2022 total (62-100).
• Joshua Palacios was removed from the lineup with left wrist discomfort but entered the game in the 10th inning in right field for defense.
• In hi first game off the injured list, Carmen Mlodzinski threw a scoreless eighth and struck out two.
• As rosters expand to 28 players for the final month of the season, the Pirates selected Miguel Andújar and reinstated Mlodzinski from the 15-day IL.
• In other roster moves, Max Kranick was reinstated from the 60-day IL and optioned to Triple-A Indianapolis while Yohan Ramirez and Cal Mitchell were designated for assignment.

Up Next

The Pirates (62-73) and Cardinals (58-77) will continue their three-game series on Saturday night. The Pirates have yet to announce their starter, and it’ll be Drew Rom (0-2, 8.00 ERA) making the start for St. Louis. First pitch: 7:15 ET.