Pirates Defeat Cardinals On Garrett Jones' 11th-Inning Homer

Garrett Jones' homer leading off the 11th inning sealed the Pirates' 58th win of the season, giving them more wins in mid-August than they had all of last season.

The Bucs jumped out to a 3-1 lead with an Andrew McCutchen three-run homer in the third, and that lead looked safe for awhile, as Jeff Karstens moved through the Cardinals' order fairly quietly. He hit a wall in the sixth, though, giving up a solo homer to Albert Pujols, walking Lance Berkman and allowing an RBI double to David Freese. So Clint Hurdle brought in Jason Grilli, which I groaned about but which was probably defensible given how early in the game it was, and Grilli did manage to get two outs against the bottom of the order.

Joel Hanrahan came on in a tie game in the top of the ninth (!) and allowed a double and a sacrifice fly to make it 4-3, but Neil Walker's solo homer in the bottom of the inning tied it. McCutchen made an excellent running catch on a ball hit to the gap by Albert Pujols to end the 11th, and Jones' homer over the right field wall ended it shortly thereafter.