Tuesday’s Game Report: Cardinals 4, Pirates 3
There was no late-inning drama on Tuesday night in Pittsburgh, and the Cardinals were just fine with that.
After surviving a 10th inning scare from the Pirates in the series-opener on Monday night, the Cardinals took a 4-3 lead in the fifth inning on a home run from Jose Martinez and held it for the rest of the game, improving their record to 9-3 since the All-Star break.
After Dakota Hudson got out of a bases-loaded, no-out jam in the fifth, the Cardinals retired the Pirates in order over the final four innings to win for the sixth time in their last seven games.
Here is how the game broke down:
At the plate: Trailing 3-0 after the first inning, the Cardinals tied the game on back-to-back doubles by Paul DeJong and Kolten Wong in the second and a two-run homer from Paul Goldschmidt in the third … The homer was Goldschmidt’s 20th of the season, tying him with the injured Marcell Ozuna for the team lead … Martinez broke the tie with his 10th homer of the season, leading off the fifth inning … The Cardinals had only one hit the rest of the game, a one-out single by Wong in the sixth … Tyler O’Neill was 0-of-4 and has just one hit, a single, in 17 at-bats over the last four games.
On the mound: Dakota Hudson found himself in a 3-0 hole just three batters into his outing after a leadoff single, a walk and a three-run homer from Starling Marte … Hudson scattered three hits over the next three innings before running into the fifth-inning jam when the Pirates loaded the bases on a single and back-to-back walks. He got out of the inning unscathed, however, by striking out Josh Bell and getting Colin Moran to ground into a double play … Hudson had nine ground ball outs before coming out of the game after 6 1/3 innings, raising his record to 10-4 … Hudson has gone 8-1 in his 12 starts since May 18 and the Cardinals have won 11 of those 12 games … Giovanny Gallegos worked the next 1 2/3 innings, recording four more strikeouts, before Andrew Miller got the save with a 1-2-3 ninth, his third of the season.
Key stat: Goldschmidt’s homer was his sixth this month, tying his career high for home runs in July. He also homered six times in July 2018. He now has 19 RBIs this month, which also ties his career best in July, which he accomplished in 2013. The Cardinals have seven games left to play this month. His career high for home runs in any month is 11, set in August of 2017.
Worth noting: Matt Carpenter was 0-of-2 with a groundout and a strikeout in his first rehab appearance Tuesday night in Memphis. He also drew a walk and scored a run. He is expected to play two more games with the Redbirds … The Cardinals activated right-hander Mike Mayers from the 60-day injured list and made room on the 40-man and active roster by designating left-hander Chasen Shreve for assignment. Shreve was the winning pitcher on Monday night. If he clears waivers, he could be outrighted to Memphis. It is the second time he had been DFA’d this season.
Looking ahead: Adam Wainwright, with his 7.16 ERA away from Busch Stadium, will get the start on Wednesday night. He has a 5.69 career ERA at PNC Park and last won there in 2016.
