By Zachary McMahon-
The Pittsburgh Pirates played the St. Louis Cardinals in the series finale on Independence Day on Thursday. The series was split after O’Neil Cruz walked off in extra innings in Tuesday’s game.
The Pirates played Jared Jones on the 15-day injured list with a lat strain, so the Pirates called up Joshua Palacios to make his season debut with the Pirates, with a walk in his pinch-hit appearance in the eighth inning. Palacios played in 91 games for the Bucs last season where he had a .239 batting average with 10 home runs. Palacios spent almost two months on the injured list for the Indianapolis Indians before being activated on June 11, Palacios has played in 21 games with the Indians batting a .311 batting average with a home run.
Martin Perez pitched 7 ⅓ innings for the Pirates, as he allowed six hits and an unearned run. Andre Pallante allowed four hits and one walk with five strikeouts in seven innings for the Cardinals.
Dylan Carlson hit an RBI double in the second that brought home Brendan Donovan after he reached on an error by Perez.
Bryan Reynolds hit a solo home run in the fourth inning that tied the game at one.
The Pirates were shut down by the Cardinals for the rest of the game, as they were struck out eight times until the eighth inning.
The game went into extra innings, as Michael Siani was the automatic runner at second base after he replaced Matt Carpenter who pinch-hit for Carlson in the ninth and struck out by Colin Holderman. Siani came home on an RBI double by Pedro Pages, and then he scored on a single by Alec Burleson as the Cardinals had a 3-1 lead.
The Pirates had to try to come back, and Michael Taylor scored on a sacrifice fly by Nick Gonzales in the bottom half. Taylor came in on defense in center field after Edward Olivares pinch hit for Rowdy Tellez, which moved Connor Joe from right field to first base, and Jack Suwinski moved to right field.
After Jared Triolo and Joey Bart hit singles with two outs, Andrew McCutchen could’ve been the walk-off hero for the Pirates if he scored Bart home, he grounded out on a fielder’s choice to end the game, as the Cardinals took the series with a 3-2 win in extras.
It will be Paul Skenes’ time in Pittsburgh as they will start a four-game series against the New York Mets on Friday at 6:40 pm first pitch.
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