Jung-ho Kang accounted for two Pirates runs including the game-winning run as part of a 4-3 Mother’s Day victory in front of 34,036 fans.
“We feel we’re playing better baseball,” manager Clint Hurdle said. “That’s what we’ve talked about and that’s where our focus needs to stay. We’re definitely competing in the batter’s box which gives you more opportunities throughout the game.”
The Pirates struck first for a fourth game in a row. Kang recorded a one out home run over the left field fence on an 0-2 Tyler Lyons fastball. Kang now has two homers on the season, both of which came against the Cardinals.
Jordy Mercer recorded an RBI single in the bottom of the fourth inning scoring Starling Marte. Marte led off the inning with a single and advanced to third on the play because of a Lyons throwing error.
Kolten Wong connected for a two-run home run in the sixth inning. This scored Peter Bourjos who singled a batter earlier. Wong has hit three of his four homers this season against the Pirates and six of his 16 career homers, as well.
The Pirates retook the lead in the bottom half of the inning. Andrew McCutchen hit a lead-off double, his sixth of the season which knocked Lyons out of the game.
Matt Belisle came into the game and Marte had hard hit single which advanced McCutchen to third. He scored when pinch-hitter Gregory Polanco hit a sacrifice fly.
After Pirates starter Jeff Locke recorded the first two outs of the inning Mark Reynolds hit his fifth double of the season. A wild pitch advanced him to third base and Jason Heyward then knocked Locke out of the game with an RBI single to right field.
Locke pitched 6.2 innings allowing three runs on five hits. Locke walked two batters and struck out one on 96 pitches, 55 of which were for strikes.
Mitch Harris [1-1] came in to pitch the bottom of the seventh and allowed pinch-hitter Steve Lombardozzi to take first base on a walk. It was the first time Lombardozzi reached base as a Pirate. Josh Harrison advanced him to second base on a bunt. Kang then came to the plate and hit an 0-1 fastball into left field for an RBI single. With Kang’s 2-for-4 performance he is hitting .333 on the season.
“It’s very meaningful that we won two games in a row against the Cardinals one of the best teams,” Kang said through interpreter H.K. Kim. “I hope that we can carry this over and that all players are on the same page moving forward.”
Jared Hughes [1-1] picked up the win after getting the last out of the seventh inning. Tony Watson pitched the eighth inning and allowed a leadoff walk. After a strikeout, he got Jhonny Peralta to ground into a double play.
Mark Melancon pitched the ninth inning and allowed two runners to reach base with one out. Heyward struck out on an 80 mile-per-hour knuckle-curve.
“It was good, I needed a strikeout there, not that a fly out wouldn’t be good,” Melancon said. “It was an important pitch for sure.”
Down to their last out, the Cardinals turned to the last available hitter Pete Kozma to pinch-hit. The end result was a ground out to first base.
This allowed Melancon to pickup the save, his second in as many days and seventh of the season. He now ties Bill Landrum for eighth in team history with 56 career saves. Melancon has now converted his fifth consecutive save opportunity.
“I think he’s incrementally getting better every time out,” said Hurdle. “It was good to see him finish it off.”
The Pirates now improve to 9-7 at PNC Park on the season and head to Philadelphia with a 15-16 overall record.
“It’s two good teams going at it and I feel like it’s going to be this way all year and that’s a good thing,” said Melancon on the Cardinals. “I like these games, I think we all do in the clubhouse. They have a good team and obviously so do we which creates a good game of baseball.”
Monday will be the start of a four game road series against the Philadelphia Phillies. Gerrit Cole [4-1 2.27 ERA] will pitch the series opener against Jerome Williams [2-2 5.18 ERA]. Cole is 1-1 with a 2.61 ERA in two career starts against the Phillies.
Photo courtesy: Gene J. Puskar/AP
