Thursday’s Game Report: Pirates 2, Cardinals 1
By Rob Rains
The Cardinals knew before Thursday’s game that if they were going to avoid having their second consecutive losing season they would have to win their final four games.
The Pirates guaranteed that the Cardinals will finish with a losing record by scoring a run off Ryne Stanek in the eighth inning to break a 1-1 tie and get the win in Pittsburgh.
It’s the first time the Cardinals will finish the season with a losing record for two full seasons in a row since 1959 and 1959.
It was the 27th loss for the Cardinals in an opponent’s final at-bat and their 29th loss in a game decided by one run.
Their only run came on a home run by Alec Burleson in the first inning off Paul Skenes. It was his major-league leading 113th RBI of the season.
Here is how Thursday’s game broke down:
At the plate: Singles by JJ Wetherholt and Ivan Herrera put runners on first and second with one out in the tie game in the top of the eighth but Burleson and Jordan Walker both struck out to end the threat … The Cardinals also were struck out in order in the ninth, giving them 13 strikeouts in the game and a total of 37 strikeouts in the three-game series … Their only other hits in the game were a two-out double by Wetherholt in the third and a leadoff infield single by Nathan Church in the fifth.
On the mound: Kyle Leahy worked just two innings in his final start of the season, giving up a run in the first inning … Cooper Hjerpe kept it a tie game into the sixth, working around three hits and three walks … In the eighth, Stanek issued a one-out walk and on a wild pitch, Herrera made a bad throw to second that allowed the runner to go to third and he scored the go-ahead run on a sacrifice fly.
Key stat: This has not been a good September for Walker, who went 0-of-3 on Thursday, striking out twice. He is 13-of-75 this month with just one homer, three RBIs and 31 strikeouts. He has now struck out 170 times this season, just three shy of Paul Goldschmidt’s franchise record of 173 strikeouts set in 2024.
Worth noting: The homer was Burleson’s 24th of the season, his first off Skenes. He is now 9-of-23 in his career against Skenes … Skenes remained winless in his career against the Cardinals in eight starts despite posting a 2.57 ERA. He is 0-5 in those games with three no-decisions. His eight strikeouts on Thursday gave him 58 strikeouts in 49 career innings against the Cardinals.
Up next: The final three games of the season will be against the division-champion Brewers in Milwaukee. Michael McGreevy will get the start in the series opener on Friday night, followed by Quinn Mathews and Andre Pallante.
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