Tuesday’s Game Report: Cardinals 11, Pirates 7
By Rob Rains
Scoring runs in Pittsburgh has been an issue for the Cardinals – until Tuesday night.
After snapping a streak of 36 consecutive scoreless innings with their stunning four-run rally in the ninth inning on Monday night, the Cardinals jumped on the Pirates early on Tuesday night and stayed on the attack, letting them withstand a Pittsburgh comeback.
Alec Burleson, Jordan Walker and Nolan Gorman all drove in three runs as the Cardinals set a season-high with their 11 runs.
They jumped out to a 6-0 lead, their biggest margin in a game this season, then added three runs in the seventh and two in the eighth. Burleson had two doubles and walked; Walker had two singles and a sacrifice fly, and Gorman added a sacrifice fly and a run-scoring groundout to his home run.
Here is how Tuesday night’s game broke down:
At the plate: Gorman got the big night started with a home run in the second, followed by Victor Scott II’s first homer of the year in the third, which bounced into the Allegheny River … The Cardinals drew five walks, and four of them came around to score … JJ Wetherholt reached base three times with a double, a walk and a hit by pitch and scored each time while Ivan Herrera drew three walks before his double in the eighth and he also scored three runs … Herrera has drawn 23 walks in 29 games, tied for the second most in the NL … All of the starters had at least one hit … They were 5-of-16 with a runner in scoring position.
On the mound: Kyle Leahy worked five scoreless innings, recording seven strikeouts, before giving up three runs in the sixth, when the Pirates homered twice, knocking him out of the game after 5 1/3 innings as the Pirates cut the Cardinals lead to 6-3 … Gordon Graceffo got a double play to get out of the inning and then worked a perfect seventh … Justin Bruihl allowed three runs in the eighth and Matt Svanson gave up a home run to Konnor Griffin in the ninth.
Key stat: The homers by Gorman and Scott increased the team’s total to 38, which is the fifth most in the NL. They didn’t hit their 38th home run last year until May 11, in their 41st game. It’s the most homers they have hit before the end of April since they had 40 in 2019.
Worth noting: All 10 of the starters, including Leahy, were drafted by the Cardinals or signed as an amateur international free agent (Herrera) … The 11 runs were the most by the Cardinals in a game in Pittsburgh since they scored 18 on May 22, 2022 … The ninth-inning homer by Griffin, who turned 20 earlier this month, made him the youngest Pirate to homer against the Cardinals since 20-year-old Bob Bailey did it on Sept. 3, 1963.
Up next: Andre Pallante will get the start on Wednesday in the third game of the series.
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