Thursday’s Game Report: Pirates 6, Cardinals 2
By Rob Rains
Maybe it’s a good thing the Cardinals are heading out of town for a week.
A loss to the Pirates on Thursday dropped their record at Busch Stadium to 13-13 this season and despite the encouragement of the “tarps off” crowd they were only 3-3 in the six games against the Royals and Pirates since those shirtless fans showed up.
Away from home, the Cardinals are 15-8 as they travel to Cincinnati to open a three-game series against the Reds on Friday night, following by three games next week in Milwaukee.
Of the Cardinals’ eight hits on Thursday, five of them came after the Pirates had opened a 6-1 lead. They scored a combined 20 runs in the six-game homestand, nine of which came in one game.
The Pirates scored 19 runs in winning two of the three games against the Cardinals and had a total of 41 at-bats with runners in scoring position in the three games.
Here is how Thursday’s game broke down:
At the plate: Ivan Herrera homered in the third inning, but the Cardinals did not have a hit after the third until Pedro Pages singled with two outs in the seventh … They scored their second run in the eighth on consecutive singles by Herrera, Alec Burleson and Jordan Walker … Walker’s single was the Cardinals’ only hit with a runner in scoring position in eight at-bats … Nolan Gorman was hitless in four at-bats, striking out three times.
On the mound: Dustin May allowed four runs over 5 1/3 innings, including a home run by Brandon Lowe in the first inning. It was the 10th homer allowed by a Cardinals starter in the first inning this season, tied for the second most in the NL behind the Giants, who have allowed 11 … The Pirates added another un in the fourth before former Cardinal Marcel Ozuna made it a 4-1 lead with a two-run single in the sixth … Justin Bruihl gave up a home run to Henry Davis in the seventh, when the Pirates scored their final two runs.
Key stat: During the six-game homestand, the Cardinals had a composite ,239 batting average with 47 hits in 197 at-bats. The pitching staff allowed a total of 61 hits in the six games.
Worth noting: The home run by Lowe was originally called an inside the park homer but was changed after the game following an umpire review, which determined the ball hit above the left field wall … There have only been three inside-the-park homers in the 21-year history of Busch 3, one by the Cardinals (Harrison Bader in 2022) and two by the visiting team … Lars Nootbaar was 0-of-2 and drew a walk in three plate appearances for Memphis on Thursday, his fourth game of his rehab assignment … Nathan Church was given the day off Thursday but is expected back in the lineup on Friday night.
Up next: Kyle Leahy wil get the start in the first of the three games on Friday night in Cincinnati.
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