Bucs break up no-no in 9th but get rolled, 5-0

Michael Wacha took a no-hitter into the 9^th inning before Colin Moran finally broke it up on a single to right field. Wacha’s strong performance combined with Pittsburgh’s anemic offense brought an end to this painful series in St. Louis as the Cardinals rolled the Pirates, 5-0.

St Louis kicked off the scoring in the 1^st inning when Kingham issued a walk to Carpenter and allowed Pham a single up the middle. Then, Martinez hit a ground ball to short on what should’ve been a routine 6-4-3 double play. Instead, Sean Rodriguez bobbled it and failed to get anyone out. Marcell Ozuna hit a grand slam on the next pitch.

The Cardinals scoring continued in the 8^th when Munoz singled on a ground ball that bounced off of Feliz and caromed into left field. This allowed Martinez to come around to score from second and ultimately ended the scoring for the day.

Wacha entered the 9^th inning with the no-hitter intact but Moran came on to pitch hit and ended the no-hit bit by delivering a clean single to right field. With the no-hitter no longer intact, the Cardinals turned to the flamethrower Hicks to close out the game, and after yielding a single to Meadows, he did just that.

Final score: Cardinals 5, Pirates 0

W: Wacha (7-1) L: Kingham (2-2)

As Murphy’s Law seems to be making it’s presence very well known, the Pirates have a much needed day off tomorrow before beginning a three game series against the Dodgers on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, lets hope Jung Ho Kang keeps hitting grand slams in the Minors as he works his way back toward rejoining the team. The clubhouse needs a change of scenery and Kang’s strong bat and sound moral compass might be just the ticket.