The Cardinals hit the ball last night, pounding out 13 hits and scoring four runs in the first four innings, but still lost to the Pirates 5-4, who nibbled away at Adam Wainwright sending the club to their seventh loss in a row. In a span of six days, the Cardinals went from up 2.5 games to down 2.5 games in the NL Central Standings.
The Cardinals jumped on Pirates starter Jeff Locke in the first inning scoring more runs in the first six batters than what they scored in 20 innings on Tuesday. Matt Holliday and Daniel Descalso singled home runs. Holliday finished with three hits and drove in two runs. Holliday scored a run in the third on a Tony Cruz ground out and then put the Cardinals on top 4-2 in the fourth with his third single of the game.
The Pirates kept scratching out runs against Wainwright. A two-out single in the first and a home run from Neil Walker in the third kept the Cardinals from building a big lead. Clint Barmes doubled in a run in the fourth and a sac fly in the fifth tied the game. Pittsburgh was scratching runs together while the Cardinals couldn’t blow the game open. Pete Kozma struck out in the seventh with runners on second and third. The Cardinals were just 4-for-14 with runners in scoring position.
In the eighth inning, Russell Martin’s single off Trevor Rosenthal scored Neil Walker with the go-ahead run from second. Trevor Rosenthal got pinned with the loss.
