St. Louis Cardinals fight hard to silence Pittsburgh Pirates 5-4 – MLB Update
The St. Louis Cardinals continued to fight for the top notch in the National League Central division as they silenced the Pittsburgh Pirates 5-4 after a late resurgence in the eighth inning at Busch Stadium in St. Louis, Missouri on Friday, August 26.
Kyle McClellan was the pick of the pitchers for the Cardinals as he threw two immaculate innings deep in the game to seal what could have gone on to be an intense finish. McClellan threw a total of 23 pitches in two hit-less innings to being his earned-run
average for the season down to 3.98 and take his tally of wins to double figures with just six losses to his credit thus far.
The Pirates started the game impressively with a three-run first inning to put the pressure on the home side. Andrew McCutchen was clever in producing a single to the left which allowed Jose Tabata to complete the first run before Alex Presley completed
his run in the second play of the inning. Josh Harrison then hit a sacrifice fly to the right which allowed McCutchen to complete a well-earned run and register a three-run lead over the hosts.
The Cardinals, seeking personal glory in this campaign, were quick to make their reply in the second inning helped by Yadier Molina’s three-run homer. Molina unleashed his arms for a 366 feet homer towards left field, allowing Matt Holliday and David Freese
to complete their runs and bring the game back into balance.
Ronny Cedeno took the Pirates to a one-run lead in the fourth inning on a Tabata RBI effort but the Cardinals regrouped well to restrict the Pirates to this total, helped by some good relief pitching by Arthur Rhodes and McClellan.
The Pirates did well to maintain their lead over the Cardinals till the seventh inning but Lance Berkman turned things around in the eighth inning when he improved his tally of home-runs to 30 this season. Matt Holliday scored his second run of the game
from this hit to complete the all-important fifth run for the Cardinals.
The Cardinals lead the three-game series 2-0 but are still nine games behind Milwaukee Brewers in their division.
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