Cardinals use the force or whatever, beat Pirates 5-2

After two straight walk-off losses to the Cardinals, the Pirates went a more pedestrian route Wednesday, falling 5-2. Oh, and the game broadcast featured lots of Star Wars references for some reason.

Brandon Cumpton simply didn't have much tonight and, as Rick Sutcliffe pointed out about 80 times, threw almost entirely fastballs. The Cardinals took advantage of his predictability. With two on in the first, Matt Adams doubled to left-center. Andrew McCutchen misjudged the path of the ball, recovering in time to throw Adams out at third, but not quickly enough to prevent two runners from scoring.

Neil Walker hit a solo homer in the second, but Cumpton put two runners on again in the third, then served up a fastball so obvious it practically had Jhonny Peralta banging the table with the blunt ends of his silverware. Peralta lifted it to left-center for a double, giving the Cards a 3-1 lead.

Jordy Mercer cut the lead to one in the fourth with an RBI single after Matt Carpenter dove for a grounder to third and seemed to hurt himself, struggling to get up to make the throw. But Cumpton walked Lance Lynn with one out in the bottom of the inning, then loaded the bases with two more singles before giving up a ground-ball single to Matt Holliday. Kolten Wong hit a solo homer off Justin Wilson in the seventh, because why not, and the Cardinals soared to victory, probably vanquishing some Klingons or something.