Pirates Waste Yet Another Paul Skenes Gem
Coming into the night, the Pittsburgh Pirates had won five of their last seven games, granted three of those Ws coming against the lowly Miami Marlins. With the playoffs out of reach, the last thing the Bucs can truly fight for is a winning season or to finish the year .500 and with tonight's 4-0 loss to the St. Louis Cardinals, it almost feels impossible as they drop to 71-79 on the year.
Pirates ace Paul Skenes dazzled once again tossing six strong innings where he allowed just one run on four hits. He struck out seven batters on the night and dropped his ERA on the season to 2.07 which still remains the lowest among all qualifying rookie pitchers.
With the bases loaded in the seventh, Cardinals catcher Pedro Pages singled home a run to double up their lead, making it 2-0. Things unraveled a hit in the bottom half of the eighth when Kyle Nicolas walked Paul Goldschmidt to begin the inning and was removed from the game after being visited by the training staff. Jalen Beeks came in relief and allowed a pair of runs on a Brendan Donovan double and a sac fly by Lars Nootbaar.
The Pirates offense did close to absolutely nothing on the night, registering just four hits while striking out eleven times. Isiah Kiner-Falefa was responsible for two of those hits, making the rest of the team a combined 2-for-27.
PITTSBURGH PIRATES
1. SS Isiah Kiner-Falefa 2-4, 2B
2. LF Bryan Reynolds 0-4
3. DH Joey Bart 0-4
4. 1B Connor Joe 0-4
5. RF Bryan De La Cruz 1-4
6. C Yasmani Grandal 0-2, BB
7. 2B Nick Yorke 0-3
8. 3B Jared Triolo 1-3
9. CF Billy Cook 0-2
PH Rowdy Tellez 0-1
ST. LOUIS CARDINALS
1.SS Masyn Winn1-4
2. DH Alec Burleson 1-3, BB
3. 1B Paul Goldschmidt 0-3, BB
4. 3B Nolan Arenado 2-4, RBI
5. LF Brendan Donovan 1-3 2B, RBI
6. RF Lars Nootbaar 0-3
7. RF Jordan Walker 1-2 BB
8. C Pedro Pages 1-4, RBI
9. CF Michael Siani 0-3
The Pirates and Cardinals will be back in action tomorrow night with first pitch scheduled for 7:45 p.m. EST.
Tomorrow's probables: Bailey Falter (8-7, 4.20 ERA) vs. Lance Lynn (6-4, 3.96 ERA).
SCHUYLER CALLIHAN