Pittsburgh Pirates fans gave a standing ovation when Francisco Cervelli stepped to the plate in the sixth inning of Wednesday afternoon’s game.
In what manager Clint Hurdle called a “must-win game,” Cervelli’s fourth inning grand slam helped the team defeat the St. Louis Cardinals, 7-2, and kept the Pirates division chances alive.
“The understatement of the day would be that was a great swing,” Hurdle said. “It’s been a while since he hit one.”
Gerrit Cole [19-8] pitched seven innings for the fourth time this month. Though he tied a season-low in strikeouts, Cole went through the Cardinals in order the first time through and had 11 ground ball outs.
In two games against the Cardinals this month, Cole has two wins and allowed two runs in 14 innings.
“Thinking back to both games, it hasn’t been about me,” Cole said. “It’s been about the fantastic defense and timely runs. Today we got up early and built that cushion. We needed to command the game and get the win which we did.”
Cervelli’s home run was his seventh of the season and first since Aug. 9. It was the second grand slam of his career and third by a Pirate this season.
It was part of a five-run fourth inning as Gregory Polanco added an RBI double to score Jordy Mercer before he was caught in a rundown.
The Pirates struck first when Neil Walker hit his 16th home run of the season just over the Clemente Wall in right field off Michael Wacha [17-7].
Prior to the five run outburst, the Cardinals tied the game at one in the fourth as Matt Holliday singled in Matt Carpenter. Carpenter recorded his league-leading 43rd double to reach base.
Cervelli’s sixth inning standing ovation was responded with a double off the wall. Mercer’s single scored him.
Adam Wainwright made his first appearance since April 25 after suffering a left Achilles injury. This was his first relief appearance since the 2006 World Series; a span of 221 games.
Wainwright got the first two outs, but allowed a double to Josh Harrison and Polanco recorded his second RBI of the afternoon with his single.
“That adrenaline rush is something you can’t mimic in sim games,” Wainwright said. “It’s just so good to be back out there. There was a lot of work that went into me getting out there.”
“I actually caught myself clapping for him when he came out of the bullpen,” said Hurdle.
Antonio Bastardo and Jared Hughes each pitched shutout innings to preserve the win.
“The outcome of game doesn’t change much,” Hurdle said. “We’re still in pursuit and if you don’t win the game you’re still theoretically in pursuit.”
The win improves the Pirates record to 18-3 in day games played at PNC Park. The series continues Wednesday night when Charlie Morton [9-8 4.54 ERA] faces Tyler Lyons [2-1 3.96 ERA].
Pirates game 2 lineup: Josh Harrison 2B, Gregory Polanco RF, Andrew McCutchen CF, Aramis Ramirez 3B, Starling Marte LF, Michael Morse 1B, Francisco Cervelli C, Jordy Mercer SS, Charlie Morton P
Cardinals game 2 lineup: Matt Carpenter 3B, Jon Jay CF, Jhonny Peralta SS, Jason Heyward RF, Matt Adams 1B, Randal Grichuk LF, Kolten Wong 2B, Tony Cruz C, Tyler Lyons P
Photo credit: Justin K. Aller/Getty Images
