Three homeruns and a solid pitching performance were the keys for the St. Louis Cardinals in a 5-4 victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates on Friday.
The Cardinals (1-0) got their scoring underway in the bottom of the third, when left fielder Tyler O'Neill blasted a solo homerun into the left field bullpen.
In the bottom of the fifth, St. Louis right fielder Dexter Fowler hit a solo blast over the outstretched glove of Pittsburgh right fielder Guillermo Heredia to give St. Louis a 2-0 lead.
Catcher Yadier Molina, who made his 16th consecutive Opening Day start behind the plate, padded the Cardinals' lead with a soft RBI single to left in the bottom of the sixth,
In the top of the seventh, Pittsburgh catcher Jacob Stallings drove in two runs with a single to right field to cut the lead to 3-2, but center fielder Jarrod Dyson left two runners on to end the inning.
Trailing by one run in the back half of the eighth, Pittsburgh reliever Richard Rodriguez was bit by the longball again, surrendering a two-run homerun to St. Louis shortstop Paul DeJong.
Off of newly-acquired Cardinals reliever Kwang-Hyun Kim, Jose Osuna drove in Josh Bell and Colin Moran to cut the lead to 5-4, but a Guillermo Heredia lineout and a Stallings double play wrapped up the victory for the Cardinals.
Pittsburgh starter Joe Musgrove pitched 5.2 innings, surrendering three earned runs and striking out seven batters. Clay Holmes pitched 1.1 innings of clean work, while Rodriguez surrendered two runs in his lone inning.
St. Louis ace Jack Flaherty pitched seven strong innings, punching out six batters and allowing two earned runs. Ryan Helsley pitched a 1-2-3 inning in the eighth, while Kim earned the save in his MLB debut.
The two teams will meet again at Busch Stadium on Saturday afternoon at 2:15 PM ET.
Comments