Wednesday’s Game Report: Pirates 2, Cardinals 1 (13 innings)
By Rob Rains
On a day when the Cardinals enjoyed their best pitched game of the early season, it was the offense that finally had an off-day.
That combination resulted in a frustrating 13-inning loss to the Pirates on Wednesday in Pittsburgh, concluding a 1-5 road trip.
After scoring at least four runs in their first 11 games, the Cardinals were shut out through 11 innings and only the performance of Erick Fedde and the bullpen let the scoreless game reach the 12th inning.
A pinch-hit RBI single by Jordan Walker produced the first run but the Pirates came back to tie the game in the bottom of the inning on a two-out single by Tommy Pham off Steven Matz.
The Cardinals failed to score in the 13th and Chris Roycroft, the next-to-last pitcher in the bullpen, could not get out of a bases-loaded, no-out jam – thanks to two walks – as the Pirates got the walk-off victory.
The Cardinals began the day with a 5.89 team ERA and had allowed five or more runs in seven of their previous eight games.
Here is how Wednesday’s game broke down:
At the plate: The Cardinals were just 3-of-15 with runners in scoring position and left 11 runners on base. Mitch Keller retired 14 consecutive batters from the second through the seventh inning and the Cardinals had only two batters reach second base … With two outs in the eighth, Thomas Saggese tried to score when the Pirates’ catcher and first baseman collided trying to catch a popup in front of the plate but he was tagged out … Willson Contreras was credited with a base hit on the play, his only hit in six at-bats … Lars Nootbaar was 0-of-5 and was just 3-of-24 on the road trip to Boston and Pittsburgh.
On the mound: Fedde did not allow a hit over his six innings of work but had to work his way out of several jams, walking the leadoff hitter four times in the first five innings and having another leadoff batter reach base on an error. Fedde, who had only two strikeouts, was pulled after throwing 88 pitches … That started a parade of seven relievers, with only John King not getting into the game … The Pirates only had two hits through the first nine innings … Matz was working on back-to-back days for the first time in his career and retired the first two batters he faced before giving up Pham’s game-tying single … Roycroft walked the first two hitters he faced to load the bases. He got a grounder that turned into a force out at the plate but then served up the game-winning hit to Joey Bart.
Key stat: Of the Cardinals seven losses in their first 12 games, four of them have come in extra innings.
Worth noting: Each team had a runner thrown out at the plate in extra innings. In the 10th, Michael Siani tried to score from second with nobody out on a single to left by Pedro Pages on a play that wasn’t close … In the 11th, Nootbaar gunned down a Pirates runner at the plate on Bart’s one-out single to right … The 13-inning game matched the Cardinals longest game since the automatic runner was added to extra innings during the pandemic.
Up next: The Cardinals will have the day off on Thursday before opening a three-game series against the Phillies on Friday night at Busch Stadium. The Astros will follow them to St. Louis on the six-game homestand.
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