Pittsburgh Pirates trounce the St. Louis Cardinals with 9-0 win – MLB Update
Pedro Alvarez hit two homers on Tuesday, August 28 and James McDonald pitched seven strong innings to guide the Pittsburgh Pirates to a 9-0 win over the St. Louis Cardinals at PNC Park. The Pirates came down hard on the Redbirds a day after they were beaten 4-3, levelling the three-game series whose final will be played on Wednesday.
While the Pirates eased past the Cardinals, there had been other features that predominated Tuesday’s game. Josh Harrison had a violent collision in the second inning at home plate with Yadier Molina, the Cardinals’ catcher, plowing into his head.
That resulted in neck, back and shoulder injuries for the catcher, forcing the Redbirds to bring in Tony Cruz to replace Molina. But whatever transpired on the field, Molina did not seem to have any indignation, implying it was unintentional.
"I never saw the guy coming," Molina said. "I was concentrating on catching the ball. I never saw him coming, but the real pain was in my head. I don't know if he was (targeting) my head or not."
It was a tough day for Jake Westbrook, the Cardinals’ starter who allowed no less than seven runs and 11 hits in his five inning, not having any support from the offence as McDonald dominated the mound allowing only two hits in seven inning.
"I haven't been very good the last couple outings and I can't ask the offense to pick me up that big like they did last start," Westbrook said.
Alvarez’s two homers came in the third and sixth inning with an RBI double in the fourth. But it was the second homer that impressed every one, going to the centre.
"The second one, the ball looked like it was going to hit the (Clemente) Bridge," Hurdle said. "That's 400 and I don't know how many. That's a whole bunch of feet. It goes to show you he can shrink a ballpark."
Hisanori Takahashi came in the ninth and pitched a hitless and scoreless inning to end the game with 9-0 win for the Pirates, levelling the crucial last series between the two teams this season.
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