Pittsburgh Pirates pitcher Gerrit Cole was named to the NL All-Star team on Monday, and Friday he showed why in a 5-2 win over the St. Louis Cardinals.
The right-handed Cole [13-3 2.30 ERA] threw seven innings and recorded three strikeouts with his only blemish coming from a Matt Carpenter two-run home run in the top of the third. He is the first Pirate pitcher to win 13 games before the Mid-summer Classic since Dock Ellis in 1971.
Offensively, Neil Walker was the hero of the night for the Pirates as he continues his hot July.
Walker singled in the bottom of the first and plated the first run of the game on a two-out double by Jordy Mercer.
After the Carpenter two-run home run gave the Cardinals a brief lead in the top of the third, the Pirates retook the lead when Jung Ho Kang and Pedro Alvarez hit back-to-back RBI singles in the bottom of the inning.
Walker followed up the next inning by blasting a Lance Lynn 3-1 curveball over the right-center field wall for his seventh home run on the season to extend the Pirate lead to 5-2. Walker now has three home runs and 10 RBIs in July.
Cardinal starter Lance Lynn [6-5 2.90 ERA] was chased after four innings, his shortest outing in over a calendar year.
Andrew McCutchen extended his career long hitting streak to 17 games after hitting a single in the bottom of the first.
Mark Melancon recorded his 29th save, the most by a Pirate before the All-Star break.
The Pirates face the Cardinals again Saturday as A.J. Burnett [7-3 1.99 ERA] faces off against the Redbirds John Lackey [7-5 3.09 ERA]. Burnett pitched six shutout innings while striking out seven in his prior start against the Cardinals this season. The Pirates [51-35] are 4.5 games behind the first place Cardinals [56-31] in the NL Central.
Photo credit: @Pirates
