CHRISTOPHER PANSINO – OVATHLETICS.COM
The Pirates extended their longest winning streak of the season to five games Wednesday night. The 11-6 win over the St. Louis Cardinals saw a lot of good play from the Pirates on both sides of the ball.
The Pirates got a good night out of starter Charlie Morton who gave up who gave up just two runs on four hits. Morton seemed to be in control for his six innings on the mound, before handing the game over to the bullpen.
The Pirates offense also torched St. Louis’s pitching scoring six runs off of their starter Kyle Lohse. Big rallies in the first and third inning accounted for much of the Pirates run production, and set the stage early for the Pirates win.
But the Pirates didn’t settle for the early lead racking up an additional four runs in the fifth off of reliever, P.J. Walters. Walters would give up a total of five runs in his three innings of pitching, but would end the Cardinals night for good in the fifth.
Pedro Alvarez had a big night going 2 for 5 with 4 RBIs. In the third inning Alvarez hit a big two run double to straight away center giving the Pirates the 6-1 lead. Later he added a two run homer in the fifth improving the lead to 8-1.
The Cardinals would rally in the eighth inning. Brad Lincoln worked himself into quite a jam in the inning ultimately giving up three runs, two earned, in the inning narrowing the 11-2 lead only slightly. The Pirates replacement shortstop, Argenis Diaz, committed a key error in the inning allowing at least a run to score. Diaz was in replacement of Ronny Cedeno as part of a mass substitution in the eighth.
The Cardinals would add another run in the ninth before Daniel McCutchen cleaned up the inning.
The Pirates continue to inch close toward an above .500 home record. With four home games remaining the Bucs (38-39 at home) need to win three to reach this goal. With the Pirates playing at this level, it’s hard to think they will not reach this goal with Houston coming up this weekend.
The Pirates play an afternoon game Thursday to cap off the series.
