The St. Louis Cardinals (74-63) earned sole possession of first place in the NL Central with a 5-4 victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates (71-66) on Monday afternoon at Busch Stadium.
Pittsburgh led 4-2 but Gerrit Cole struggled in the seventh and the bullpen could not bail him out. St. Louis took the lead and held on to take a three-game lead over the Pirates in the NL Central standings. Milwaukee (73-64) lost at Chicago, falling out of at least a tie for first place for the first time since early April.
With Josh Harrison and Andrew McCutchen aboard in the first inning, Neil Walker doubled home both runners for an early 2-0 lead against Cardinals starter Lance Lynn. Andrew Lambo would double home Harrison in the second, making it a quick 3-0 advantage for the Pirates. Matt Holliday doubled in two off Cole (7-5) in the third, but Andrew McCutchen got one of those back with a monstrous home run into the upper deck in the seventh, making it a two-run lead of 4-2 at that point.
Cole then allowed a two-run home run to pinch hitter Kolten Wong, tying the game at that point. He stayed in and allowed Jon Jay to reach before being replaced by reliever John Axford. Axford walked Oscar Taveras before Holliday came through again, knocking a single through the left side to score Jay and give St. Louis its first lead of the game.
In the top of the eighth, Pittsburgh made noise when Starling Marte led off with a walk and Jordy Mercer singled to left with no one out. Pinch hitter Travis Snider, Harrison and Lambo all then failed to drive the runners in, and closer Trevor Rosenthal shut the door in a 1-2-3 ninth to seal the victory.
The Pirates were poor with runners in scoring position, going just 1-10 in that situation. There were 11 runners left on base. They now must face Cardinals ace Adam Wainwright (15-9) on Tuesday, who they defeated last week at PNC Park. Jeff Locke (6-3) takes the mound again against Wainwright, having won the same matchup last Wednesday. A Pirates victory would give them an opportunity to play for another series victory in this tight NL Central race. First pitch is scheduled for 8:15 pm ET.
