PIrates' Offense Absent Once Again in Loss to Cardinals
For the second straight night, the Pittsburgh Pirates continued their dreadful results at the plate, leading to a 3-1 loss in game two of the series against the St. Louis Cardinals.
Pittsburgh didn't have much traffic on the base paths up until the eighth inning when Nick Gonzales doubled to left which was followed by a Bryan Reynolds base knock and even with a pair of runners in scoring position, the Bucs failed to cash in. Andrew McCutchen went down on strikes and Isiah Kiner-Falefa grounded out to second to end the inning. The Pirates' lone run of the night came back in the 2nd inning when Bryan De La Cruz took Lance Lynn deep to centerfield.
St. Louis tied the game up in the third with a Luken Baker triple scoring Michael Siani from second who doubled to lead off the frame. In the fourth, Jordan Walker hit a solo shot off of Bailey Falter to break the 1-1 tie. Outside of that, Falter was strong once again allowing just two runs on four hits in 5.2 innings of work.
The Cardinals added an insurance run in the eighth via a sac fly from Nolan Arenado, but it was more for good measure more than anything as the Pirates were unable to scratch anything across in the ninth.
PITTSBURGH PIRATES
1. SS Nick Gonzales 1-4
2. LF Bryan Reynolds 1-4
3. C Joey Bart 1-4
4. DH Andrew McCutchen 0-4
5. 1B Rowdy Tellez 0-2, BB
PH Isiah Kiner-Falefa 0-1
6. RF Bryan De La Cruz 1-4 HR, RBI
7. 3B Jared Triolo 0-4
8. 2B Nick Yorke 3-4
9. CF Michael A. Taylor 1-1, BB, 2B
PH Oneil Cruz 0-1
ST. LOUIS CARDINALS
1. SS Masyn Winn 1-3, BB
2. DH Luken Baker 1-3 3B, RBI
PH Alec Burleson BB
3. 1B Paul Goldschmidt 0-2, BB
4. 3B Nolan Arenado 0-3
5. LF Brendan Donovan 1-4, 2B
6. RF Jordan Walker 1-3 HR, RBI
7. 2B Thomas Saggese 0-3
8. C Pedro Pages 0-3
9. CF Michael Siani 1-3, 2B
Tomorrow's probables: (PIT) TBA vs. Sonny Gray (13-9, 3.75 ERA). First pitch is scheduled for 7:45 p.m. EST.
SCHUYLER CALLIHAN