Pirates let 5-4 lead slip away, lose 10-5 to St. Louis
Jordan Walker hit a bases-loaded double to highlight a six-run seventh inning, lifting the St. Louis Cardinals to a 10-5 victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates on Wednesday night in the third game of a four-game series.
"It was a fastball up," Walker said. "It was a pitch I wanted to hit. He gave me a fastball in. I just threw my hands at it and things went my way."
Brendan Donovan hit a two-run homer and Masyn Winn added a solo homer. Nolan Arenado drove in a run, scored twice, had three hits and walked twice.
Billy Cook, who was called up Sept. 8, hit his first big league homer — a three-run blast — for the Pirates, who acquired him from the Orioles at the trade deadline.
"I'm thankful it went out," Cook said. "I just relaxed and it worked out."
Rookie Michael McGreevy (2-0) pitched the final three innings without allowing a run. He struck out four and gave up only two hits. It was first time throwing in relief since 2019 when he was in college at UC Santa Barbara.
"Once I got on the mound, it all felt natural," McGreevy said. "Just attack hitters. When you have a five-run lead, it's just go get them."
David Bednar (3-8) took the loss. He gave up three runs, two earned, in 1/3 inning in relief.
Pittsburgh starter Jake Woodford faced his former team for the first time and went 4 2/3 innings. He allowed four runs on eight hits with five strikeouts and no walks.
Cardinals starter Sonny Gray pitched 5 2/3 innings, allowing four runs on nine hits. He struck out eight and passed the 200-strikeout mark for the second time in his career. Gray had 205 strikeouts as a member of the Reds in 2019.
"It's a neat feat," Gray said. "It's not easy to do."
Winn got the seventh inning started with a homer to tie the game at 5-5. Bednar left with one out and two men on base. Iván Herrera, who had three hits, and Lars Nootbaar each drove in a run with bases-loaded singles. Walker cleared the bases with a double down the third-base line, extending the lead to 10-5.
"In that situation, I need to put something in play," Walker said. "I wanted to hit it hard."
The Pirates took a 5-4 lead in the sixth when they chased Gray. After striking out the first two batters, Gray gave up back-to-back singles to Nick Yorke and Jared Triolo. Matthew Liberatore came in and gave up a three-run home run on the first pitch to Cook for the first RBIs of his career.
"We just weren't able to complete it," Pittsburgh manager Derek Shelton said. "Billy came through in a big situation there. We just weren't able to hold on."
St. Louis jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the second inning when Donovan hit a two-run homer into the right field seats after Arenado led off with a single.
The Cardinals added two runs in the third inning. Paul Goldschmidt tripled to right field with two outs, scoring Alec Burleson. The triple, his first since Aug. 27, 2021, snapped an 0 for 10 slump. Goldschmidt then came home on a bloop single by Arenado.
Pittsburgh struck for two runs on four hits and a sacrifice fly in the fourth to cut the St. Louis lead in half to 4-2.
St. Louis manager Oliver Marmol was ejected in the bottom of the fourth inning for arguing balls and strikes. It was his National League-leading sixth early exit this season and 15th in his career. Hitting coach Turner Ward also was ejected.
TRANSACTIONS
Pirates: Promoted Woodford from Triple-A Indianapolis to start Wednesday's game in St. Louis.
Cardinals: Recalled McGreevy from Triple-A Memphis.
TRAINING ROOM
Pirates: RHP Kyle Nicolas (left oblique strain) has been placed on the 15-day injured list, retroactive to Tuesday. … SS Oneil Cruz (left ankle) remains day to day since leaving Sunday's game
Cardinals: RHP Lance Lynn (right knee inflammation) placed on the 15-day injured list to end his season. The Cardinals hold a team option on Lynn for next season.
UP NEXT
Pirates: RHP Luis Ortiz (6-6, 3.45) will be making his 14th start and 36th appearance of the season.
Cardinals: RHP Erick Fedde (8-9, 3.45) has had two starts against Pittsburgh with both coming in 2022 while he was pitching for the Washington Nationals. He won both games.
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