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Jeff Karstens lasted only 3.2 innings this afternoon, giving up five runs on nine hits in the process. A lot of them were singles, true, and not all of those hard-hit, but he only struck out one. He was coming off three previous starts that were at least decent, but I he can pitch the rest of the season without falling apart.
The Pirates actually held a 4-3 lead in the second after getting an Andrew McCutchen RBI single in the first and plating all of their first three batters in the second, but they couldn't score after that. The Cardinals took the lead in the fourth, then added a couple insurance runs in the seventh off Chris Resop.
On the bright side, Jameson Taillon struck out nine batters in four scoreless innings for West Virginia.