Saturday night’s match-up, which was the second game in a three game series, would see the Pirates try and get retribution not only against the Cardinals for the previous night, in which the Cardinals improved to 22-7 after an 8-5 victory, but also after the series earlier in the year when the Cardinals swept the Pirates, all in walk-off fashion.
And on Saturday, May 9th, 2015, the Pirates finally got their retribution, in the form of a 7-5 victory, snapping their seven game losing streak over the Cardinals.
The game’s pitching match-up featured Carlos Martinez (3-0, 3.64) for the Cardinals, and Vance Worley (2-2, 3.90) for the Pirates.
In the top of the first, Matt Holliday hit a two-out double, which kept his on-base streak alive. Holliday has been on base in every game this season, which is tied for fourth in Cardinals history. But he would not score as the Pirates half of the inning arrived, during which Martinez shut down the Pirates despite an Andrew McCutchen double.
But during the top of the second inning, with Jhonny Peralta and Jason Heyward on base and no outs, catcher Yadier Molina stepped up to the plate. He lined out to second base, a force out then occurred at third base, and then right back to second base: the Pirates had committed a triple play against the Cardinals. A 4-5-4 triple play.
During the bottom of the second, Pedro Alvarez walked, and advanced to third after an infield single by Jung Ho Kang. A sacrifice to second scored Kang, giving Pittsburgh the first score of the game. Following that, Worley doubled to center, and Gregory Polanco would hit a double of his own, scoring Worley, as the Pirates took a 3-0 lead, heading into the third inning.
After a scoreless third by both teams, the Cardinals did what they do best: fight back.
The fourth inning started with a single to center by Kolten Wong, and a single by Holliday. Matt Adams grounded into a fielder’s choice, bringing Wong to third base. A single to left by Peralta scored Wong as Adams advanced to second base. Heyward followed with a deep double, scoring Adams, and bringing Peralta to third. And with the third straight scoring play, Molina doubled, scoring both Peralta and Heyward.
Suddenly, the 3-0 that Pittsburgh had vanished and St. Louis had a 4-3 lead.
And yet, the inning still wasn’t over. A walk to Mark Reynolds was followed by an infield single by Martinez. A sacrifice fly to center field scored Molina, and it became 5-3 Cardinals. The next inning, the Cardinals were held scoreless, but Pittsburgh added a run with a solo home run by Neil Walker to make it 5-4.
In the bottom of the sixth inning, with the bases loaded and one out, Martinez was taken out in favor of the double-play specialist Seth Maness. However, Jordy Mercer hit a double deep into center field, scoring two runs, and giving Pittsburgh the 6-5 lead. A sacrifice fly by pinch-hitter Corey Hart scored one more run, making it a 7-5 lead for the Pirates.
The final line for Martinez: 5.1 IP, 7 H, 7 R, 7 ER, 4 BB, 7 K. The final line for Worley for the Pirates: 5.0 IP, 9 H, 5 R, 5 ER, 3 BB, 0 K.
Randy Choate as well as Miguel Socolovich would follow Maness as relievers during Saturday night’s game, both of whom wound up pitching shutout innings. As for Pittsburgh, Rob Scahill, Jared Hughes, and Tony Watson all pitched in relief before the ninth inning, none of which allowed a run, as the score remained 7-5 in favor of the Pirates.
In the eighth inning, Mitch Harris entered the game as part of a double switch (Peter Bourjos became the new center-fielder) for St. Louis, and with one out, allowed an infield single to Alvarez, who would advance to second on a cutter pitch that got away from Molina. During his relief appearance, Harris struck out one, allowed one hit, but did not allow a run.
Harris still has not allowed a run all season long.
For the top of the ninth, Pirates’ closer Mark Melancon entered the game. The Pirates had not been in a save situation since late April. First up for St. Louis was Pete Kozma, which left Tony Cruz as the only bench player available for the Cardinals. Kozma grounded out, and Wong then stepped up to the plate, who also grounded out. Holliday then would fly out to Josh Harrison to end the game.
Pittsburgh’s victory puts them at 14-16 on the season, while the Cardinals drop to 22-8 on the season, as Tyler Lyons takes the mound on Mother’s Day to close out the series.
(AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)
