Pirates rally falls short in 5-3 loss to Cardinals

The Pittsburgh Pirates fell behind 5-0 to the St. Louis Cardinals, and though they battled back late, scoring three runs in the seventh and eighth innings, the comeback stopped there, as the Bucs continue to struggle against division rivals with a 5-3 loss to the Cards.

Zach Thompson had a pretty fine start, though he got hit with the Derek Shelton special and was pulled after five innings. He finished with a line of five hits, one run, one walk, and two strikeouts, and unfortunately for the Buccos, Thompson’s removal coincided with the big St. Louis surge, as the Cards wracked up some small ball success against Heath Hembree and Anthony Banda. Both pitched just one-third of an inning and were credited with two runs against apiece.

In fact, the Cards didn’t have an extra base hit all night, but they pounded out 10 singles and nabbed 3 walks, and that was enough against a Pittsburgh offense that didn’t show any signs of life (again) until it was too late.

Michael Chavis hit a solo shot in the seventh, his fourth of the year, and also his 15th RBI, which is tied for the team lead, to get to Bucs off the schneid, while they were able to manufacture a few the following inning, including a Bryan Reynolds RBI single and a Yoshi Tsutsugo ground out that scored Ben Gamel.

Chavis’ homer broke Adam Wainwright’s 37 and one third innings scoreless streak against the Buccos, though he still got the decision win, extending his streak to 10 straight winning decisions against the Pirates. He hasn’t taken a loss against the Buccos in 19 consecutive starts, stretching all the way back to Opening Day in 2016 and is now 23-7 lifetime versus Pittsburgh.

Reynolds was 2-for-4 at the plate, as was Chavis as the only multi-hit Buccos, while Ben Gamel, Ke’Bryan Hayes, Rodolfo Castro also nabbed hits, with Castro successfully stealing second before being caught swiping third. Hayes is in a bit of a slump right now, as his average has dipped down to .288 on the year.

The Pirates and Cards will be back in action tonight at 6:35pm.