Cardinals hold off late rally to sweep series, hand Pirates 8th consecutive loss

The Pittsburgh Pirates recorded only three hits and three walks in their previous two games against the St. Louis Cardinals, so anything that put a runner on base would pass as progress for their offense.

The search for a promising sign started when Colin Moran homered twice and continued with Bryan Reynolds hitting a two-run shot that brought the Pirates to within a run in the bottom of the ninth inning.

It ended with Alex Reyes striking out Michael Perez swinging and Ke’Bryan Hayes looking to clinch the Cardinals’ 7-6 win for a three-game series sweep Thursday afternoon before 8,676 at PNC Park.

It was the eighth consecutive loss for the Pirates (41-74), who matched their run total of their previous five games and have been outscored, 50-18, during the losing streak. The Pirates have been swept 13 times this season, with 11 coming by way of a three- or four-game series.

“You try not to look up the record and just … work hard, play a good nine innings, play a good game and try to win,” Moran said. “We’ve got a lot of guys working real hard and trying to put some wins together.”

Moran’s performance was a positive, given his hard-luck season. The first baseman spent almost two months on the injured list, first with a left groin strain and then a left wrist fracture before returning Aug. 6. He was batting .171 against left-handed pitchers before stroking Wade LeBlanc’s 1-1 cutter 423 feet over the Clemente Wall for a three-run homer in the first inning.

The 37-year-old LeBlanc was removed from the game with left elbow pain after allowing three runs on three hits, which equaled the amount the Pirates had in their two previous games combined against J.A. Happ, 38, and Adam Wainwright, 39. T.J. McFarland (2-0) got the win for the Cardinals (58-56).

Moran, who went 2 for 4 with four RBIs, led off the fourth with a solo shot to center off Andrew Miller. It marked the second two-homer game of his career, with the first coming when he hit two solo shots in a 6-5 loss to the Milwaukee Brewers on July 27, 2020, the home opener before an empty stadium because of the pandemic.

Prior to Thursday, Moran had four career homers off lefties.

“Obviously, homers feel good no matter what, but I’m working hard and trying to stay in there and drive the ball against them,” Moran said. “I got a good couple pitches to hit and put the barrel on it. Working hard on trying to improve against lefties, so it feels good when I get some results.”

Both homers, however, came with the Pirates trailing. The Cardinals took a 1-0 lead when Dylan Carlson hit a leadoff single to right, stole second base and scored on Nolan Arenado’s double to left.

The Cardinals took the lead in a four-run fourth inning, when Paul DeJong and pinch hitter Lars Nootbaar hit two-run homers off JT Brubaker for a 5-3 lead. It was the first career homer for Nootbaar.

Brubaker (4-12) lost his eighth consecutive decision in 11 starts, allowing five runs on five hits and two walks on 81 pitches (46 for strikes).

“We’ve got to get to the point where we’re executing pitches,” Pirates manager Derek Shelton said. “He was almost 50-50 balls and strikes. You’re flirting with danger when that happens.”

The Cardinals added another run in the sixth, when Harrison Bader singled to left, advanced to third on Pirates pitcher Duane Underwood’s throwing error on a Tommy Edman fielder’s choice and scored on Andrew Knizner’s grounder to second for a 6-4 lead.

The Pirates stranded two runners in both the seventh and eighth. After Kevin Newman hit a two-out double to center and Reynolds singled to first, Hoy Park popped out to short to end the seventh. With Hayes and Wilmer Difo on base, Anthony Alford struck out for the fourth time to end the eighth. Since hitting doubles in his first two at-bats after being selected from Triple-A Indianapolis, Alford has 10 strikeouts and no walks in his last 15 at-bats.

David Bednar struck out the side on 10 pitches – all strikes – in the eighth, but gave up back-to-back doubles to Jose Rondon and Paul Goldschmidt in the ninth as the Cardinals extended their lead to 7-4.

Gregory Polanco started the ninth by reaching second on an error by Edman in right, and Reynolds followed with his 20th home run to cut it to 7-6 before Reyes struck out the final two batters for his 27th save.

“We made a good push there at the end,” Moran said. “We’re just trying to get the ball rolling and keep it going. We have a lot of talented hitters on the team so we’re trying to line up some good at bats together and score some runs.”