Cardinals Lose Despite Active Young Bats

Where was this Cardinals offense on Sunday?

The Saint Louis Cardinals  weren’t able to put this one away despite the team’s young stars coming through with big hits. It took a bit of luck to get the Cardinals’ offense going; after getting his first major league hit, Aledmys Diaz scored in the top of the third inning after Pittsburgh left fielder Starling Marte made a fielding error, and Matt Carpenter scored later in the inning to erase a 2-0 deficit.

Pirates center fielder Andrew McCutchen doubled to bring in first baseman John Jaso and extend the lead to 3-2 in the bottom of the third. McCutchen himself could have scored, if not for Cardinals right fielder Stephen Piscotty, who has one hell of an arm:

Starling Marte would ground into a double play to end the inning. In the fourth, Cardinals second baseman Jedd Gyorko would hit a two-run homer, his first as a Cardinal, and Michael Wacha would hold off the Pirates offense.

Errors haunted the Pirates again in the fifth, as Stephen Piscotty scored thanks to a throwing error on Pirates shortshop Jordy Mercer. Andrew McCutchen scored on a fielder’s choice in the bottom half of the inning, and that would be it for Cardinals starter Michael Wacha. Tyler Lyons would finish off the inning, but not before allowing Pirates third baseman David Freese to score on a Gregor Polanco sacrifice fly, tying the game at 5-5.

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And then the Cardinals bullpen decided to become a series of aces. The bullpen would not allow a baserunner for the next five and a third innings, before walking Gregor Polanco in the eleventh inning. Pirate second baseman Josh Harrison reached on an infield single. It would spell death for the Cardinals, as Jordy Mercer single to right to bring Polanco in and end it.

The Cardinals will finish off the series with Pittsburgh tomorrow, with Mike Leake scheduled to get his first start as a Cardinal.

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