Pirates Drop 4th Straight With Loss to Cardinals; Couldn’t Get Over the Hump Late

Bottom 7th, 5-3 STL: With the bases loaded and one out, pinch-hitter Nick Yorke delivered a two-run single to center off left-hander JoJo Romero.

Bottom 8th, 5-4 PIT: With the bases loaded and one out, Oneil Cruz bounced into a fielder’s choice of George Romero to bring the Pirates within a run.

Key Moments

After cutting the deficit to two, the Pirates again loaded the bases with one out but JoJo Romero prevented any further damage. He struck out Ryan O’Hearn on a questionable check swing call that drew the ire of manager Don Kelly and then got Marcell Ozuna to ground out to third on a 3-2 pitch.

Following Oneil Cruz’s RBI fielder’s choice in the eighth, the Pirates had runners on the corners with two outs but Nick Yorke flew out to right field for the final out of the inning.

Player of the Game

Andre Pallante held the Pirates to one run on five hits with no walks and six strikeouts. His six innings pitched were a season-high.

Stat to Know

Oneil Cruz’s 26 RBI are tied with Xavier Nady (2008) for the second-most by a Pirate in March/April in a single season. Willie Stargell (27, 1971) has the most.

Notable Performances

• Bubba Chandler: 5.0 innings, three hits, three runs, four walks, six strikeouts, 85 pitches/53 strikes
• Spencer Horwitz: 1 for 3, one home run, one RBI, one run, one walk
• Nick Yorke: 1 for 2, two RBI
• Joey Bart: 2 for 3, one run

Noteworthy

• Nick Gonzales extended his hitting streak to a career-long 10 games with a base hit in the bottom of the eighth.
• Joey Bart had his first multi-hit game of the season and first since a four-hit performance against the Athletics last season on Sep. 21.
• The Pirates selected the contract of RHP Chris Devenski and optioned LHP Hunter Barco to Triple-A Indianapolis. RHP Ryan Harbin was designated for assignment.
• RHP Jared Jones threw three-perfect innings and struck out five in his first rehab start for the Bradenton Marauders. 30 of his 41 pitches went for strikes and his fastball averaged 99.1 mph.

Up Next

The Pirates will look to avoid the sweep with RHP Paul Skenes (4-1, 2.48 ERA) on the mound in Thursday’s finale. RHP Hunter Dobbins will make his season debut for the Cardinals. First pitch: 12:35 p.m. ET on SportsNet Pittsburgh, MLB Network/100.1FM & AM 1020.

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