Pirates beat Cardinals 5-4 in back-and-forth contest

There’s another win over their division rival for the Pittsburgh Pirates. One night after opening the series with a 4-0 victory, the Buccos also took game two with a big seventh inning that earned the 5-4 win over the St. Louis Cardinals after they blew a 2-1 lead earlier in the game.

Ke’Bryan Hayes cranked a two-run single to right field that scored Kevin Newman and Ben Gamel, which put the Bucs back in the lead. It was good to see Hayes, who has been struggling at the plate of late, get the clutch hit.

The Bucs added another when a Yoshi Tsutsugo single scored Hayes (though Bryan Reynolds was thrown out at home), which put Pittsburgh up 5-3. It was a big night for Tsutsugo, who also hit a solo homer in the top of the fourth and finished the night 2-for-4 with two RBIs.

Pittsburgh also got a solo shot from Kevin Newman in third. He also went 2-for-4 on the evening.

Ben Gamel, batting lead-off, went 3-for-4 and Jacob Stallings went 2-for-4 to round out the multi-hit batters on the night for Pittsburgh.

Meanwhile, on the mound, Dillon Peters had another effective start, going five innings and giving up one run on three hits with three strikeouts and a walk. His ERA on the year is now 1.86, but he finished with the no decision after Nick Mears almost blew the game giving up two Cardinals runs in the bottom of the sixth.

It was the Bucs who ultimately rallied, however, with local guy David Bednar pitching the ninth inning for the first save of his career.

Chasen Shreve, Chad Kuhl, and Chris Stratton also pitched, with Kuhl giving up three hits and a run to allow the Cards within one, before Stratton and Bednar closed the door.

That’s two wins in a row for the Buccos, who have officially taken the series and will go for the sweep at 2:15 on Sunday afternoon.