Late replacement Rowdy Tellez has 2 RBIs as Pirates blank Cardinals for series win

With Bryan Reynolds a late scratch, the Pittsburgh Pirates inserted lefty slugger Rowdy Tellez into the starting lineup as a last-minute replacement even though they were facing a left-handed pitcher.

Tellez responded with an RBI single in the second inning and a solo home run that landed in the Allegheny River in the fourth to lead the Pirates to a 5-0 win over the Cardinals to clinch the three-game series Wednesday afternoon before 20,091 at PNC Park.

It was the fourth consecutive series win for the Pirates (52-50), who moved to within a game of the Cardinals (53-49) in the NL Central and wild-card standings. Even Tellez knew his addition could be a gamble, given that he was batting .148 (4 for 27) with one RBI against lefties this season.

“It’s either really bad or really good; there’s no in-between,” Tellez said of the late change to the lineup. “Luckily for me, I was able to set the tone early, driving in a run. I put a good swing on it early and just built from there. It was a good day, a good win.”

Reynolds did not play for the first time this season after 101 consecutive starts, as the Pirates said he had back spasms and listed him as day-to-day. Pirates manager Derek Shelton shifted Joshua Palacios from right field to left and Connor Joe from first base to right to make room for Tellez at first. Such last-minute moves typically stress out Shelton.

This time, it worked out in the Pirates’ favor.

“He was not in the original lineup, and I can tell you whenever someone comes into a lineup that is not in the original lineup when I’m on the opposing side, it gives me a ton of anxiety because usually that person does something good,” Shelton said of Tellez, who went 2 for 3 with two RBIs. “He did a lot of good today.”

The Pirates got six scoreless innings from lefty Martin Perez, who recorded his first quality start since July 4 (also against St. Louis) even though he allowed four hits and five walks against two strikeouts.

It was a positive for Perez, who had an 8.24 ERA as opponents slashed .369/.430/.607 in his four starts since returning from the injured list. Perez was coming off a poor performance, giving up six runs in 3 2/3 innings in Friday’s 8-7 walk-off win over the Philadelphia Phillies.

“Nice bounce-back,” Shelton said. “I thought the execution of his pitches were better. I thought the mix of his pitches were better. I thought the last start he didn’t mix and match as well as he should have. He looked like he was right around the zone. I know he had five walks, but it looked like he was right around the edges, and he’s got to pitch to the edges. Sometimes it gets expanded. Sometimes it doesn’t. Today it didn’t, and he was still able to come back and execute, put the ball on the ground.”

The Cardinals put runners on the corners in the second inning, when Dylan Carlson drew a two-out walk and advanced to third on Lars Nootbaar’s single to center. Then the Cardinals attempted what Shelton called a “Mickey Mouse play” that saw Nootbaar attempt to steal second but get caught in a rundown when catcher Joey Bart fired it to Nick Gonzales, who threw to Ke’Bryan Hayes at third to get Carlson out.

After leaving the bases loaded twice in Tuesday’s 2-1 loss, the Pirates took advantage of lefty Matthew Liberatore’s command issues as he threw 40 pitches in a four-run second inning.

Liberatore hit Hayes with a pitch and gave up singles to Palacios and Tellez, whose grounder through second scored Hayes for a 1-0 lead. Michael A. Taylor drew a four-pitch walk to load the bases for Andrew McCutchen, who drew a full-count walk to drive in Palacios to make it 2-0. Joe then delivered a two-out, two-run double off the glove of a diving Carlson in left-center.

Tellez led off the fourth inning by crushing a belt-high 2-1 fastball inside 447 feet, curving to clear the right-field seats for his ninth home run to give the Pirates a five-run cushion.

“I don’t know if I’ve ever seen a home run that looks like it’s going to be right over the foul pole land 40 feet fair,” Shelton said.

It marked Tellez’s first homer into the Allegheny for the Pirates but the second of career as he also had a splash homer for the Milwaukee Brewers in the second game of a doubleheader against the Pirates on Aug. 14, 2021.

“To do it at home for the first time was cool,” Tellez said. “I’ve done it before as a visitor, but to do it here as a Pirate is cool.”

The Cardinals threatened to score in the fifth, when they loaded the bases after two-out singles by Pedro Pages and Masyn Winn but Perez got Willson Contreras to ground into a forceout at second base.

Carmen Mlodzinski replaced Perez for the seventh and had runners on second and third with two outs but got Contreras to fly out to right. The Pirates turned double plays in each of the final two innings as Colin Holderman stranded a runner by striking out Carlson in the eighth and Aroldis Chapman finished off the ninth to clinch the shutout.

For the Pirates, winning four of six games against the Phillies and Cardinals in the homestand is a strong start to the second half. They visit the Arizona Diamondbacks on Friday for a three-game series followed by a trip to the Houston Astros that Shelton called “very important.”

“We get the best team in baseball then we get the team that’s in front of us in the division, so to go 4-2 on a homestand is off to a good start,” Shelton said. “We got a tough road trip coming up. We got the Diamondbacks six times in the next 10 days. Then we get Houston, who’s leading the West in the American League, so we have to continue to play well. But very proud of how we responded coming out of the break.”