PITTSBURGH (93.7 The Fan) – The Cardinals brought in a left-handed reliever in the 10th to force Bryan Reynolds to bat right, the Buccos centerfielder promptly tied the game with a single before Oneil Cruz lined one to right as the Pirates come back to take game two of the Cardinals series 5-4.
“It feels good, obviously,” Cruz said through interpreter Stephen Morales. “I stayed focused through the whole game and that's how we, as a team, got the win tonight.”
Bucs had a 3-1 lead and overcame a St. Louis lead in the 10 th for a 41 st win this season.
Up a couple in the top of the eighth, the Pirates most consistent reliever, Colin Holderman, got a first out then gave up a double and game-tying, 422-foot homer to Willson Contreras. In the tenth, with the runner at second a weak ground ball to first, reliever Aroldis Chapman forgot to cover leaving runners at first and third with no outs, Alec Burleson hit a sacrifice fly to give the Cardinals their second lead of the game.
"We made a bad pitch to a really good hitter in the eighth and he hit a home run," said Pirates manager Derek Shelton . "We just kept going. They kept playing. Cutch, unbelievable at-bat to kind of set that up right there. Bryan big hit, then Cruzy really good swing and was ready to hit the first pitch.”
Tellez time
To give you an idea of where he was at to now, Rowdy Tellez had nearly half as many hits on Wednesday (three) as he did in May (seven). Tellez had a couple of singles and then an opposite field home run into the first row by the left field foul pole which gave the Bucs a little insurance in the seventh inning.
The 29-year-old who was hitting .177 heading into June is now hitting .244 with hits in three straight games and multiple hits in three of his last seven games. The lefty has 15 of his 23 RBI since June 2. He also made a diving backhand stop at first base to prevent potential extra bases with two outs in the ninth.
Pirates scrambled for the other runs, after a Tellez single to lead-off the fifth inning, Nick Gonzales singled through the hole on the right side and Tellez waived to third. The throw from right fielder Burleson hits him off a bounce in what would have been a close play at third and on the throw, Gonzales went to second. A ground out by Ke’Bryan Hayes scored Tellez with Gonzales moving to third. Catcher Joey Bart’s sacrifice fly drove in Gonzales to take the first lead at 2-1.
Jared Jones
After skipping a start for the Pirates to be able to keep Jared Jones throwing longer in the season, the right-hander went five innings, 78 pitches (52 strikes), giving up four hits including a two-strike, two-out single for the Cards only run. The 22-year-old walked two and struck out five, giving him 98 strikeouts this season, best in the National League.
Jones showed a little rust in the first inning walking two straight after a fly out, but got a strikeout and pop out to end the first. He hadn’t pitched since June 22 against Tampa Bay and had given up eight runs in his last 11.2 innings.
Up Next
Final game of the Cardinals series with left-hander Martin Perez (1-4, 5.28 ERA) for the Pirates against RHP Andre Pallante (4-3, 4.50 ERA) as Dan Zangrilli hosts the North Shore Tavern Leadoff Show at 11:40a and first pitch at 12:35p on 93.7 The Fan.
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