The Pittsburgh Pirates held off the St. Louis Cardinals in a late-rally game, building an early advantage before weathering St. Louis' push in the seventh.
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PIT | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 0 |
| STL | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 |
Jared Triolo provided an important lift for Pittsburgh with a home run in the fifth, while Brandon Lowe contributed throughout the scoring flow. The Pirates also received a strong start from Braxton Ashcraft before their bullpen protected the margin.
Esmerlyn Valdez's homer brought Brandon Lowe home and gave Pittsburgh the lead in the second. Oneil Cruz later scored when Brandon Lowe reached on a fielding error by Ramón Urías, and Jared Triolo's homer extended the advantage. For St. Louis, Iván Herrera's single brought Thomas Saggese home, Alec Burleson's single brought Bryan Torres across, and Herrera later doubled to score Saggese. Bryan Torres also brought Ramón Urías home on a sacrifice fly.
Matthew Liberatore took the loss for St. Louis after Pittsburgh established its early cushion. Pittsburgh's bullpen absorbed the late pressure, with Mason Montgomery closing the game.
The Pirates extended their winning streak, while the Cardinals dropped their second straight. The late rally made the finish tense, but Pittsburgh's early work remained enough.
Pittsburgh Pirates defeated St. Louis Cardinals, 5-4.
- Esmerlyn Valdez went 1-for-4 with 1 home run, 2 RBIs and 1 run scored (batting .244 on the season).
- Jared Triolo went 1-for-4 with 1 home run, 1 RBI and 1 run scored (batting .247 on the season).
- Oneil Cruz went 1-for-4 with 1 double and 2 runs scored (batting .263 on the season).
- Matthew Liberatore allowed 4 runs (3 earned) on 6 hits over 5.2 innings, striking out 9, and took the loss (5-13) (5.41 ERA).
- Braxton Ashcraft allowed 2 runs on 6 hits over 5.0 innings, striking out 3, to earn the win (14-5) (3.59 ERA).
- Mason Montgomery allowed 0 runs on 0 hits over 1.0 inning, and closed it out for the save (7) (3.07 ERA).
St. Louis Cardinals fell to 68-70 (2 straight losses); Pittsburgh Pirates improved to 67-71 (2 straight wins).