Sept. 20 – Nick Gonzales went 2-for-4 with a triple, a run and a decisive RBI as the visiting Pittsburgh Pirates defeated the St. Louis Cardinals (St. Louis Cardinals) 3-2 on Thursday.
Yasmani Grandal homered for the Pirates (72-81), who avoided a four-game sweep.
Pirates starter Luis Ortiz allowed two runs on five hits in six innings. He struck out seven and walked two.
Reliever Carmen Mlozinski (4-5) got the win and Aroldis Chapman recorded his 10th save.
Cardinals Brendan Donovan went 4-for-4 with two RBIs (77-76).
St. Louis starter Eric Feder allowed one run on four hits in six innings. He struck out three and walked one. Reliever JoJo Romero (7-3) lost the game.
Grandal tied the game 2–2 with a homer off Andrew Kittredge in the seventh inning.
Pittsburgh took a 3-2 lead in the eighth inning on Romero and Ryan Fernandez. Onil Cruz hit a double, then Connor Joe and Gonzales hit singles to take the lead.
Isaiah Kiner-Falefa started the inning with a two-run homer, but Fedor stranded Bryan Reynolds and Cruz on grounders and then added a popup from Roddy Tellez.
Ortiz got out of trouble in the second. After a single by Donovan and a walk by Lars Nootbaar, Ortiz struck out Jordan Walker and retired Pedro Paige on a helicopter.
Fedor survived again in the third. After Jared Triolo’s single, Kiner-Falefa powered out and stole second base. Reynolds drew a walk, but Fedor struck out Cruz to tie the runner.
Pittsburgh leads 1-0 in the fourth inning. Gonzalez hits a three-pointer and scores on Brian De La Cruz’s sacrifice fly.
The Cardinals tied the game 1–1 in the bottom of the inning on Paul Goldschmidt’s single, Nolan Arenado’s walk, and Donovan’s RBI single.
St. Louis led 2-1 in the sixth inning. Goldschmidt singled, stole two and scored on Donovan’s double.
–Visual-level media
