Burleson, who broke out of a lengthy skid on Monday, had two doubles to drive in his three runs. Walker had a pull-side single for an RBI, he went the other way for another RBI single and he drilled a deep fly ball for a sacrifice fly RBI.

Leadoff hitter JJ Wetherholt, who smashed a tying homer a night earlier in front of dozens of friends and family, doubles and scored three times on Tuesday. He’s scored 25 times – far and away the most among all MLB rookies.

Ivan Herrera walked in three of his first four at bats and then doubled in the eighth inning. In all, all nine Cardinals in the lineup had a hit as the club scored a season-high 11 runs.

"The middle of our lineup really did a nice job," Cardinals' manager Oliver Marmol said. "(Burleson) had much better swings and really stayed on the ball and drove in three. Gorman had the big homer and Walker stayed on some pitches and looked much better today. So, the middle did a nice job and the others created opportunities for them. Overall, good approach and a lot to be happy about."

Great Scott! Big swat for Victor

Struggling to consistently hit breaking balls for a third straight season, Scott II recently had a day out of the starting lineup to try and work the kinks out of his swing.

Scott’s work paid off on Tuesday night as he drilled a breaking ball from Pittsburgh’s Braxton Ashcraft 415 feet and into the Alleghany River. It was two feet longer than the smash Gorman hit in the second inning – one that hit the sidewalk parallel to the park and bounced into the river.

Scott came into Tuesday hitting .314 in at bats that end on fastballs. However, he was hitting just .080 against breaking balls and he was 0 for 8 against off speed pitches. Breaking balls were also an issue for Scott in 2025 (.158) and 2024 (.069). Tuesday’s smash was Scott’s fourth career homer off breaking balls.

"Just more of a profound approach by releasing the barrel," Scott said of the tactics he has been working on to combat breaking balls. "Hitting line drives to the shortstop is good in theory, but when you don't release the barrel, it can be tough. I'm just trying to release the barrel and working hard."

Leahy great for five innings, not so much in sixth

Leahy, who thrived in a relief role in 2025, admitted recently that he is still working to master the transition from the bullpen into the starting staff.

Leahy showed progress with that on Tuesday night with a very effective and efficient five innings of work. Over those first five innings, Leahy allowed just five hits and tied a career high in strike outs with seven. He got Nick O’Hearn to hit into a double play after a lead-off single in the fourth inning. And in the fifth inning, after the first two reached on singles, Leahy executed a perfect slider to jam Jake Mangum for another rally killing double play.

Things went awry in the fifth inning for Leahy, who has struggled this season when going through the lineup a third time. Oneil Cruz and O’Hearn reached Leahy for homers to cut the Cardinals lead to 6-3. Gordon Graceffo relieved and induced the third ground-ball double play of the night to thwart another Pittsburgh rally.

"It was one of those situations where the score is allowing you to let him to continue going out there and experience (the sixth inning)," Marmol said of Leahy. "You can see that he's running into a little bit of a wall, but he did a really nice job with that lineup and mixed well. The lefties gave him a little trouble the third time through, but it was good to let him feel that (sixth inning)."

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