Pirates drop game two, 11-5

Pittsburgh dropped game two of the series as things got out of hand late. After giving up two quick runs in the 1^st, Joe Musgrove settled down to retire 14 Cardinals’ batters in a row before giving up two more runs in the 6^th inning.

However, the wheels fell off as the Pirates turned to relief pitching. Feliz, Brault, and Anderson labored through the 7^th inning while allowing a run. That damage would prove to be minimal compared to what happened next as the Cardinals sent 11 hitters to the plate in the 8^th, while banging out six runs on six hits, bringing the score to 11-1 off of Nick Burdi and Clay Holmes.

The Pirates had a hit parade of their own in the 9^th inning but it was too little too late as they fell, 11-5.

Here’s how the scoring went:

The Cardinals kicked it off early when they plated two runs in the 1^st inning. Musgrove walked Carpenter on five pitches to start the game and then yielded a single on the next pitch to Martinez. Matt Adams stepped in next and grounded a ball ticketed for a 4-6-3 double play, however Musgrove’s reactions took over as he knocked the ball down in self-defense and fired to first base to get the out. Carpenter and Martinez advanced to third and second on the play. Marcel Ozuna would double two pitches later to give the Cardinals the 2-0 lead.

Pittsburgh kick started their scoring in the top of the 4^th inning thanks to Josh Bell’s hot bat. Bell drove a double to left to lead off the inning and advanced to third base on Cervelli’s ground out. Dickerson would deliver a single to right to bring Bell around to score, however that would be all for the offense in that inning, despite having runners at the corners with one out.

Then, St. Louis poured on nine runs in the 6^th, 7^th, and 8^th innings.

The first two runs came in the 6^th inning when the Cardinals loaded the bases with nobody out following a Carpenter single, a Martinez walk, and an Adams single. After delivering a huge strike out of Ozuna, it looked like Musgrove might be able to work out of the jam. However, with two strikes on DeJong, Joe Musgrove spiked a curveball that Cervelli wasn’t able to handle, allowing Carpenter to score and all other runners to advance on the play. DeJong would later deliver a sacrifice fly to center before Musgrove would finally retire the side.

The scoring continued in the 7^th when St. Louis pushed one run across at the hands of Michael Feliz, Steven Brault, and Tanner Anderson. Feliz allowed a single to Pena after striking out the first batter of the inning. Brault entered the game to walk O’Neill and Carpenter loading the bases, before he was also yanked. Anderson entered the game and got out of the inning, but not before throwing a wild pitch that allowed Francisco Pena to score.

The 8^th inning was where the floodgates opened as the Cardinals pushed six runs across on a single by Wong, a walk by Bader, Pena reaching on an error by Moran, an O’Neill home run, a single by Munoz, a ground-rule double by Garcia, a single by Adams, and finally a sacrifice fly by Ozuna, that brought the score to 11-1 in favor of the Red Birds.

The Pirates strung together a few hits of their own in the top of the 9^th when Ryan Levarnway doubled with one out. Corey Dickerson traded places with him with a double of his own. After Moran grounded out, Kramer singled, Newman doubled, and Luplow walked, placing runners at first and second base for Adam Frazier. Frazier then doubled down the right field line, bringing the score to 11-5, however that is where the score would stay as Osuna would ground out to end the game.

Final Score: Cardinals 11, Pirates 5

W: Mikolas (15-4) L: Musgrove (6-9)

The Pirates and Cardinals will do it again on Wednesday afternoon at 1:15pm in the finale as Taillon takes on Poncedeleon.