Pittsburgh Pirates edge past St. Louis Cardinals 6-5 – MLB Update
The Pittsburgh Pirates ended the winning-streak of the St. Louis Cardinals, defeating them 6-5 on Monday, September 12 in the midst of drizzle at PNC Park in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
The Cardinals were fresh from a three-game series whitewash of the Atlanta Braves but a refurbished Pittsburgh side did well to silence the postseason contenders through immense composure and dedication. The Pirates, playing at home, regularly produced hits
and a three-run eighth inning followed by Joel Hanrahan’s near-perfect closing sealed the game for Pittsburgh.
Albert Pujols drove in a run in the first inning; allowing Rafael Furcal to complete the first run for the Cardinals and taking the visitors to a one-run lead early on.
The Pirates made a strong reply in the bottom of the first to highlight their intentions. Alex Presley and Neil Walker added a run each to first eradicate the deficit and subsequently impose a lead on the visitors.
The Cardinals brought the game into balance when Skip Schumaker scored the equaliser for the visitors on Furcal’s RBI effort. Furcal went 2-for-1 in the game but will now be looking to improve his hitting ability in order to cement his place in the line-up
for the next season.
Presley scored his second run for the Pirates in the fifth inning to regain the one-run lead in a crunch encounter before Pujols exhibited his hitting power in the sixth inning to revitalize the Cardinals in the game. Pujols smashed a two-run home-run down
centre field, allowing Jon Jay to complete his run.
The game swayed freely but a composed team-effort in the eighth inning took the Pirates to an unassailable two-run lead. The Cardinals required two runs to draw level yet again but Hanrahan combined variety with pace to restrict the Cardinals to just one
run in the decider and bag his 37th save of the season.
Cardinals’ manager Tony La Russa was disappointed with his team’s showing and said that it was only themselves to blame for the loss. He further added that the Cardinals gave the Pirates a chance to comeback in the game and they rightfully cashed in on the
chance.
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