Pirates rack up 15 hits, beat NL Central-leading Cardinals

Fans of the Pittsburgh Pirates got a taste of things that may happen far more regularly in the years to come Friday evening as a plethora of solid individual performances by the team’s youngsters contributed heavily in an 8-2 win over the St. Louis Cardinals at PNC Park.

Roansy Contreras held the NL Central-leading Cardinals to one run in 5 1/3 innings of work.

Oneil Cruz brought his month-of-September batting average up to .400 (12 for 30), going 3 for 5 with three RBIs on Friday and falling a home run short of the cycle.

Bryan Reynolds (2 for 5 with an RBI) and Ke’Bryan Hayes (2 for 4) turned in multi-hit nights, and Cal Mitchell quietly went 3 for 3 with a runner batted in.

“We had a lot of contributions from our young kids but especially (Cruz and Contreras), who we feel are going to be a big part of what we’re doing not only throughout the last 25 games but also into the multiple years coming forward,” manager Derek Shelton said after the victory.

“It’s a really important sign. It’s a thing our fans can jump onboard and really embrace.”

Of course, that outlook represents the glass half-full, brushing aside the team’s current miserable state.

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Here and now, the Pirates (51-86) sit in the cellar of the NL Central, have been hopeless as far as contending for the playoffs is concerned for some time and have secured a third straight losing campaign.

Still, with nothing left to lose this season (save for more games), Friday’s result was encouraging from the Pirates players’ point of view for a number of reasons.

“Obviously, we’re not going to the playoffs,” Cruz said. “In the little bit of the time we have left, I’m a strong believer that there’s so much left to learn and many other areas that we can continue to grow and get better at. When I think about the younger group that’s here, the future does look bright.”

Ben Gamel got the Pirates on the board early, launching his eighth home run of the year, a solo shot, over the right-center field wall.

In the fifth inning, after Mitchell and Jason Delay singled, Cruz plated them with a standup triple. Cruz later scored a run himself, courtesy of a single by Reynolds.

Contreras (5-4, 3.29 ERA) earned the win. He allowed four hits, walked a pair and struck out one.

Though Contreras was yanked in the top of the sixth inning, leaving Manny Banuelos to clean up two men aboard with one out, Shelton was pleased with how Contreras battled against one of the best teams in baseball.

“I think it’s really important,” Shelton said. “I think his last three starts have been against teams that are going to be in the playoffs or fighting for the playoff hunt.

“For a young pitcher like this, a 22-year-old kid, to continue to be able to execute and maneuver through lineups like this, I think that’s really important.”

Banuelos had a run charged to him in the seventh, which was the Cardinals’ second and final run scored, while Chase De Jong was on the mound.

But more importantly, Banuelos got the Pirates and Contreras out of a jam in the sixth.

With one out and runners on first and second, Albert Pujols came to the plate to pinch-hit, but Banuelos quickly got the future Hall-of-Famer to ground into a 5-3 inning-ending double play, putting out the fire.

Up 4-2 heading into the bottom of the eighth, the Pirates added four more insurance runs.

Michael Chavis’s triple plated Gamel and Jack Suwinski, and Mitchell scored Chavis on an RBI single to right field.

Cruz’s third hit of the evening produced another RBI as he scorched a ball past first base to score Greg Allen, who pinch-ran for Mitchell.

“Every game, we try to lift each other up, support one another, speak life into one another,” Contreras said. “There were situations where I understood that we need to have each other’s back (and tonight), we were able to come out with a victory.”

Game two of three between the Pirates and Cardinals is at 7:35 p.m. Saturday evening. J.T. Brubaker (3-11, 4.35) takes the mound for the Pirates.