Holliday, Wong Lead Cardinals Past Pirates, 5-4
By STEVE OVERBEY
Associated Press
ST. LOUIS (AP) Matt Holliday had the go-ahead RBI single in the seventh inning after Kolten Wong's pinch-hit homer tied the score, leading the St. Louis Cardinals to a 5-4 win over the Pittsburgh Pirates on Monday.
St. Louis moved into sole possession of first place in the NL Central for the first time this season with its third straight win in a row. The Cardinals are one game ahead of Milwaukee, which lost to the Chicago Cubs. Pittsburgh is three games back.
Trailing 4-2, St. Louis scored three in the seventh. Wong homered off Pittsburgh starter Gerrit Cole (7-5) to tie the score. Wong did not start after bumping his head in the eighth inning of Sunday's 9-6 win over the Cubs.
Jon Jay followed with a triple and scored on Holliday's single to left. Holliday, who also had a two-run double in the third, is 7 for 11 with three home runs and 12 RBIs in the last three games.
Seth Maness (6-3) picked up win in relief. Trevor Rosenthal got the last three outs for his 41st save in 46 opportunities.
Cardinals starter Lance Lynn gave up three runs and eight hits in six innings.
Cole allowed all five runs and eight hits over 6 1-3 innings.
Andrew McCutchen homered for the Pirates off Kevin Siegrist in the seventh to push the lead to 4-2. The 454-foot shot was the second-longest by a visiting player in the history of the current Busch Stadium, which opened in 2006.
Pittsburgh jumped out to a 3-0 lead with two runs in the first and one in the second. Neil Walker hit two-run double on the 10th pitch of the game to bring in Josh Harrison and McCutchen.
Andrew Lambo added an RBI double in the second.
Pirates: INF Pedro Alvarez missed his fifth successive game with a left foot sprain suffered Aug. 26. He is listed as day-to-day.
Cardinals: RHP Michael Wacha threw two scoreless innings in a rehab appearance for Double-A Springfield on Sunday. He allowed one hit and threw strikes on 24 of 34 pitches. He is hoping to re-join the starting rotation in by mid-September.
Pirates: LHP Jeff Locke (6-3, 3.51) will start the second game of the three-game series on Tuesday. He has gone 4-0 in his last five starts.
Cardinals: RHP Adam Wainwright (15-9, 2.59) will be making his fifth start against the Pirates this season. He is 1-2 with a 1.61 ERA in his four previous starts.
The Cardinals are a major-league best 53-28 in September since 2011. They went 19-8 last Septmeber.
Updated September 1, 2014
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