Adam Wainwright rubs his head after giving up the go ahead double in the seventh. (MLB photos)
Tony Sanchez hit a tiebreaking RBI double in the seventh inning and the Pittsburgh Pirates beat the St. Louis Cardinals 2-1 on Sunday. Sanchez’s double to deep center field with two outs came off Wainwright (1-1) and snapped a 1-1 tie. Wainwright went seven innings and allowed two runs and five hits after pitching seven scoreless innings in his first start of the season at Cincinnati in Monday’s opener. He struck out seven and walked two.
The Pirates opened the scoring in the fourth inning when Andrew McCutchen doubled with one out and scored on Neil Walker’s two-out double. An RBI triple by the Cardinals’ Jon Jay in the sixth tied the score at 1-1 off Edison Volquez.
The Cardinals managed to win the middle game of this series on Saturday against a pitcher that has given them fits. The Cardinals jumped on Pirates ace Francisco Liriano with three in the first. Yadier Molina hit his second homer of the season and Jhonny Peralta added a late two-run shot as St. Louis pulled away for a 6-1 win on Saturday night.
The victory was the first by the Cardinals against Liriano, who went 4-0 with a 1.16 ERA against St. Louis last season, including a triumph in Game 3 of the NL division series.