Oneil Cruz hits walkoff single, leads Pirates to 5-4 win over Cardinals
Bryan Reynolds and Oneil Cruz hit run-scoring singles on consecutive pitches in the 10th inning, and the Pittsburgh Pirates rallied to beat the St. Louis Cardinals 5-4 on Wednesday night.
Willson Contreras' two-run homer in the eighth off Pittsburgh's Colin Holderman tied the score 3-3.
Alec Burleson put St. Louis ahead with a 10th-inning sacrifice fly off Aroldis Chapman (1-3) after Masyn Winn's infield single advanced automatic runner Dylan Carlson to third.
With pinch-runner Jared Triolo on second starting the bottom half, Michael A. Taylor struck out while trying to bunt and Andrew McCutchen drew a walk from Andrew Kittridge (1-4).
JoJo Romero relieved and Reynolds lined a fastball into center to drive in Triolo and advance McCutchen to second. Cruz drove a slider to right and McCutchen scored standing up as the ball bounced to the right-field wall.
"We made a bad pitch to a really good hitter in the eighth and he hit a home run," Pirates manager Derek Shelton said of Contreras. "We just kept going. Our guys just kept playing."
It was Cruz's second game-ending hit this season and the third of his career.
"It felt good, for sure, but it was a team effort," Cruz said. "Everybody played their part in it and that's why we came back at the end and could win that game."
Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol decided not to use Ryan Helsley, who leads the major leagues with 31 saves, after the right-hander had pitched five times in the previous eight days.
"We've got a couple of guys down that have pitched a lot," Marmol said. "We're going to have to figure out a way to win without them from time to time. You mix and match as good as you can going to the end of that game."
Rowdy Tellez had three hits for the Pirates, including an opposite-field home run just inside the left-field foul pole leading off the seventh against Giovanny Gallegos. Pittsburgh had lost three of four.
Wynn had three hits for the Cardinals.
Pirates rookie Jared Jones allowed one run and four hits over five innings. The 22-year-old right-hander made his first start since June 22 as the Pirates limited his workload.
Jones felt discomfort in his right lat muscle and was pulled after 78 pitches but said "it's nothing to be concerned with, I don't think."
Cardinals starter Miles Mikolas gave up two runs and five hits in six innings after allowing 10 runs and 12 hits over 4 1/3 innings in an 11-4 loss to Cincinnati on June 27.
Winn hit an RBI single in the fifth, but the Pirates took a 2-1 lead in the bottom half on Ke'Bryan Hayes' RBI groundout and Joey Bart's sacrifice fly.
TRAINER'S ROOM
Cardinals: Contreras stayed in the game after being struck on his left forearm by a warmup pitch from Matthew Liberatore prior to the bottom of the eighth inning. Contreras broke the forearm on May 7 and was out until June 24. ... C Ivan Herrera (lower back tightness) is scheduled to begin a rehab assignment Thursday with Triple-A Memphis. ... RHP Riley O'Brien (right forearm flexor strain) threw a bullpen session Wednesday and could begin a rehab assignment in the next few days.
UP NEXT
Cardinals RHP Andre Pallante (4-3, 4.50) faces LHP Martin Perez (1-4, 5.28) in Thursday's series finale. Pallante will be making his first career start against the Pirates after 13 relief appearances. Perez has gone 10 starts since his lone win of the season on April 4 at Washington.
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This story has been corrected. A previous version incorrectly identified the runner who started the 10th on second for the Pirates.
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