Cardinals 4, Pirates 3

The Pirates lost another key game, 4-3, in a rain-delayed matchup against St. Louis Monday. The Bucs took a 2-0 lead in the fourth when Jose Tabata, Travis Snider and Andrew McCutchen hit a series of singles, with McCutchen's bringing home Tabata. With one out, Pedro Alvarez hit a single of his own to load the bases, and Josh Harrison brought in the second run with a sacrifice fly.

Unfortunately, the Cardinals tied the game almost immediately, as Yadier Molina led off the fifth with a single and came home on a double by Skip Schumaker; Schumaker advanced on A.J. Burnett's wild pitch, then came home when pitcher Kyle Lohse singled up the middle. (Lohse later tried to score on a double to center by Matt Carpenter. The whole play seemed to happen in slow motion, but McCutchen and cutoff man Josh Harrison were able to throw Lohse out at the plate.)

In the sixth, the Cards took the lead when Matt Hollday smashed a 3-1 fastball for an opposite-field home run. Allen Craig then singled, advanced on Clint Barmes' throwing error, moved to third on a groundout, and came home on a sacrifice fly.

The following inning, Harrison singled and moved up to second when Craig couldn't field Rafael Furcal's throw. Barmes then doubled Harrison home to make it 4-3. But Jeff Clement and Tabata failed to make anything else happened, and that's where it stood. The Pirates put two men on in the eighth, but Jason Motte got Harrison to ground out to end the threat. As the top of the ninth came to an end, Greg Brown teased the bottom of the inning by saying something like, 'Coming up are Rod Barajas, Clint Barmes and a pinch-hitter!' I thought I could sense a hint of disgust in his voice, but that might be wrong. The Pirates had Gaby Sanchez pinch-hit for Barmes, which, against a righty, might actually be just as bad. Nothing happened, and the Pirates lost by a run, moving further behind in the Wild Card race.