Andrew McCutchen’s two-run home run in the 14th inning gave the Pittsburgh Pirates a 6-5 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals.
The homer extended McCutchen’s hitting streak to 18 games this despite a couple of nearly game-changing calls from home plate umpire Vic Carapazza.
“Quite the climactic ending right there,” McCutchen said. “That was a lot of fun and who would have thought it came to that?”
Mark Reynolds struck out and so did Jhonny Peralta. Carapazza ruled each a foul ball when replay showed strike three and the plays resulted in a home run as well as the go-ahead RBI single.
On a 1-2 pitch, Reynolds was shown swinging and missing at a pitch in the dirt. Home plate umpire Vic Carapazza ruled it a foul ball and both Francisco Cervelli and manager Clint Hurdle discussed the play with fans loudly booing in the background.
The very next pitch was Reynolds’s seventh home run of the season which landed in left field. Cervelli was immediately tossed and Hurdle came out and after a lengthy discussion he was ejected as well. Brad Fischer came out to hold back Cervelli and then acting manager Dave Jauss came out to help at the end of the sequence as well.
This was the first time a Pirate player has been ejected and also the first of Cervelli’s career. It was Hurdle’s third ejection of the season with the other two coming over arguing balls and strikes.
Crew chief Larry Vanover talked to a pool reporter and said Carapazza heard a foul tip on the Reynolds at-bat and that Cervelli was ejected for language.
A.J. Burnett hit his first home run since 2005. The homer was the fourth of Burnett’s career and his first since July 24, 2005 when he was a Florida Marlin and hit one off Kevin Correia.
“It was so loud rounding those bases and all I could think about was my 11-year-old who has been begging me to hit a home run,” Burnett said. “I tried to explain to him that it’s not that easy hitting one. My wife said he was in there going crazy.”
In the 14th inning, Peralta appeared to strikeout, and the Fox broadcast even flashed a strikeout graphic, however Carapazza ruled foul once again. Peralta’s single scored Matt Carpenter from third base.
Burnett allowed a run in the third inning with Carpenter scoring on a Yadier Molina sacrifice fly. Carpenter singled and reached third base on a Kolten Wong single.
In the fifth inning, Carpenter was hit by a pitch to lead off the inning and he scored when Jason Heyward’s ground ball was not properly handled by Pedro Alvarez who tried to cut off the hit. Burnett threw a season high 112 pitches in 6.2 innings of work.
Burnett’s hit sparked an attempted rally for the Pirates in the bottom of the fifth. With two outs, Gregory Polanco reached by error and Neil Walker singled, however Andrew McCutchen struck out looking. A frustrated McCutchen showed dissatisfaction with the call and slammed his bat to the ground.
The Pirates would rally in the eighth inning however. Andrew McCutchen led off with a walk and scored on a Jung Ho Kang single. On a throwing error, Kang advanced to second base. He was then batted in by Alvarez’s single. He also moved to second, this time on the attempted throw.
In the 10th inning Yadier Molina led off with a single against Deolis Guerra however he ended up getting caught between first and second base and was thrown out by Chris Stewart. Reynolds however would homer for a second time giving the Cardinals the lead.
Kang opened the bottom of the 10th with a triple. He slid in safely and both him and third base coach Rick Sofield were on the ground at the end of the play. Two batters later, Stewart singled him home tying the game once again.
In the 14th Carpenter reach base by walk and Stewart’s error on a stolen base attempt placed him on second. Carpenter scored on a Peralta single.
Walker singled on a 1-2 count on Nick Greenwood [0-1] and then McCutchen homers into the center field bushes to win the game. Vance Worley [3-4] got the win.
“I’ve always been proud of these guys,” manager Clint Hurdle said. “Tonight was another example and an exclamation point behind it.”
Both teams will conclude its first-half of play with a Sunday Night Baseball contest in which Tim Cooney [0-0 3.95 ERA] takes on Francisco Liriano [5-6 2.99 ERA].
Liriano is 4-2 against the Cardinals with a 2.38 ERA in 10 career starts against them. Cooney has three career starts on the season and is a Collegeville, Pa. native.
Photo courtesy: Jared Wickerham/Getty Images
