The Pirates (16-20) put four runs up in the fourth inning and the bullpen shut the door over the final 4 1/3 innings as the Bucs defeated the Cardinals (18-19) on Saturday night.
Pirates starter Edinson Volquez cruised through the first before getting into trouble in the second. He allowed two hits and a walk to begin the inning then hit Peter Bourjos to load the bases before allowing a run to score on a 5-4-3 double play. Volquez then threw a wild pitch to Cardinals starter Lance Lynn to make the score 3-0.
The Pirates struck back in the fourth to take the lead when Ike Davis, Tony Sanchez and Jordy Mercer all reached with no out. Two straight RBI groundouts cut the score to 3-2 and a Josh Harrison infield single off of the foot of Lance Lynn tied it at three. Pedro Alvarez ended the scoring for the inning with a RBI single to right.
The Cardinals had two more solid chance to tie or take the lead in the fifth and seventh innings. After Volquez recorded the first two outs in the fifth, he allowed back-to-back singles by Jhonny Peralta and Matt Holiday and a walk to Allen Craig ending his night for Jared Hughes.
Hughes quickly recorded the third out by groundout and worked a perfect sixth to qualify himself for the victory.
The Cards final chance came against Justin Wilson in the seventh inning when Matt Carpenter reached with a one out single and moved to second on a Peralta walk. Wilson would recover to get Holiday with a big strikeout before Hurdle went to Bryan Morris to get another quick third out via groundball.
Tony Watson and Mark Melancon would each throw a scoreless inning to close things out.
“What a fun game to be a part of for everybody,” said manager Clint Hurdle. “To go seven zeros to finish off. Everybody threw in something, everybody did their job, they just handed the baton. The key retires when we got the bases loaded situation and Hughes got the groundball. Morris came in and got a groundball in the seventh. Quality work done by everybody out there.”
Final Score: Pirates 4, Cardinals 3
Injury Update
— Starling Marte left the game in the fourth inning with “tightness in his back”. Gaby Sanchez played right field for four innings before being replaced by Jordy Mercer. It was the first career appearance in the outfield for both.
“I’m glad that nothing got hit over there, that’s for sure, (laughs)” said Sanchez “I’m not going to lie to you guys, but if something did get hit, I could catch fly balls, I can catch groundballs, so it’s nothing where I’m going to be really nervous when a ball gets hit to me. It’s just the simple fact it’s a different angle, different spot. It’s just a weird situation to be in because I have never done it.”
— Andrew McCutchen sat out the game due to left foot soreness.
Both are listed as day-to-day.
Starters Lines
Volquez (ND): 4 2/3 IN, 4 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 4 BB, 4 K’s, 2 WP, 1 HBP. 88 Pitches (55 Strikes).
Lynn: 6 IN, 9 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 2 BB, 5 K’s, 1 HBP. 105 Pitches (69 Strikes).
The Pirates will look for the sweep tomorrow night on “Sunday Night Baseball” on ESPN.
Tomorrow’s Starters
(RHP) Charlie Morton (PIT): 0-4, 3.45 ERA
(RHP) Shelby Miller (STL): 4-2, 3.20 ERA
First pitch expected at 8:10.
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(Photo Credit: Getty Images)
