By Zachary McMahon-
The Pittsburgh Pirates played the St. Louis Cardinals on Wednesday afternoon at Busch Stadium in St. Louis, Missouri. The Cardinals had won the last four games including the first two games against the Cardinals. The Pirates had also lost the last six games entering this match.
Nolan Arenado was scratched from the lineup, and Nolan Gorman started at third base.
Sonny Gray pitched a quality start with seven innings for the Cardinals, he allowed two hits, one walk and eight strikeouts. He’s the fifth MLB pitcher to pitch at least seven innings multiple times this season.
Mitch Keller pitched six innings, allowing seven hits, three earned runs, three walks, and six strikeouts.
Masyn Winn got his second career multi-double game, as he also did this on April 26 against the Milwaukee Brewers.
Lars Nootbaar got his first three-hit game of the season, which included an RBI single in the third.
Jordan Walker had a two-run single in the eighth as the Cardinals extended their lead into as they shut out the Pirates 5-0.
Ke’Bryan Hayes hit a single in the second inning and he’s hit safely in 15 out of the last 17 games. Andrew McCutchen hit an infield single in the sixth inning, and he got his 208th infield hit, which is now tied for fourth most amongst active players with P adres infielder Jose Iglesias.
Former Cardinals outfielder Tommy Pham, and O’Neil Cruz are the only other Pirates to have a hit, as they only had four.
This was Mitch Keller’s 12 straight start without a win against the Cardinals, which is the fifth longest streak against the Cardinals, and tied for the longest by a Pirate starting pitcher.
This is the fifth year in a row that the Cardinals had shut out the Pirates at least once.
Brendan Donovan extended his 10-game hitting streak against the Pirates with an infield single in the eighth, which ties DJ LeMathieu for the second longest active streak against the Pirates. He also extended his overall hitting streak to eight games, and his home hitting streak to 15.
Willson Contreras extended his on-base streak to 20 games with a walk in the third inning, the second longest streak of his career, as he had a 26-game streak from the end of the 2023 season into the start of 2024. Contreras’s streak is the longest within a single season.
Victor Scott II hit a single in the fifth inning, which extended his career-long hitting streak to eight games.
Winn, Walker, and Scott II all hit into a double play, as the second time that the Pirates had turned three double plays this season, and their eighth multi double play game, which breaks the tie the most in the MLB with the Miami Marlins. The Pirates have lost seven straight games, which is the longest since a 10-game losing streak last season.
Luken Baker pinch hit for Alec Burleson in the eighth inning, when he hit a pinch-hit double for the second time this season, and he’s the third MLB player to hit a pinch hit double as he joins Randal Grichuk and Ernie Clement, who each have three.
The Pirates will have an off day on Thursday as they start a three-game series against the Atlanta Braves on Friday as Bailey Falter will go up against Bryce Elder. The Cardinals will travel to D.C. to face the Washington Nationals starting on Friday with Erick Fedde going up against Mitchell Parker.
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