Pirates lose to Cardinals 3-1

Well, so much for the streak.

Of the three solo home runs in this game, the Cardinals had two of them, and combined with an eight-strikeout performance by Adam Wainwright, it was enough to put them over the Pirates 3-1 at Busch Stadium this afternoon.

Although the Bucs got seven hits to the Cards’ six in the game, only Gregory Polanco’s shot to right field in the top of the fourth inning got them on the board. Colin Moran’s double in the top of the eighth was the Pirates’ sole extra-base hit, and he and Erik Gonzalez were responsible for the majority of the hits.

JT Brubaker wasn’t horrible, but he gave up solo homers to both Pauls in the Cardinals’ lineup—DeJong in the second and Goldschmidt in the fifth. Yet again, when your battery isn’t producing, there’s not much of a margin for error, which he learned the hard way.

Wainwright may be in the twilight of his career and his fastball hovering in the high eighties these days, but with three other Cards starters on the IL, he rose to the occasion and got his second consecutive win.

It was the Cardinals’ sparse hitting outside of the dingers that kept the game in check. Brubaker went six innings, Chris Stratton managed to get out of the seventh with no scoring despite walking two, and Geoff Hartlieb had a hit-free eighth. He’ll be heading back to Indianapolis, as the Pirates are bringing up Max Krammit Kranick, who will make his major league debut on the mound tomorrow against the Cardinals’ Johan Oviedo.

The Bucs still have a chance to take the series tomorrow afternoon. Good luck, Max.