Long ball aids Pittsburgh Pirates in victory over St. Louis
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ST. LOUIS -- Esmerlyn Valdez and Jared Triolo homered, Brandon Lowe added an RBI single and the Pittsburgh Pirates beat the St. Louis Cardinals, 5-4, on Sunday.
Braxton Ashcraft (14-5) held St. Louis without an extra-base hit over five innings to become the first Pirates pitcher since 2018 (Jameson Taillon and Trevor Williams) to reach 14 wins. He allowed two runs on six hits, struck out three and walked one.
The relievers allowed two runs in the seventh to push a three-run lead to one, but came up clutch with six key outs. The victory gave Pittsburgh its fourth series win in its last five.
"(The bullpen has) been really good, and everybody is coming in and filling up the strike zone and really attacking," Pirates manager Don Kelly said. "I think that it's turned into a strength for us."
In the second inning, Valdez hit a two-run home run off Cardinals starter Matthew Liberatore (5-13) that stayed just inside the right-field foul pole. Triolo drilled a 412-foot blast into the left-field stands in the fifth inning to put Pittsburgh ahead 4-0.
Thomas Saggese singled three times and scored twice. He moved into the St. Louis lineup after infielder JJ Wetherholt was placed on the 10-day injured list Sunday with right wrist tendinitis.
Alec Burleson achieved his first 100 RBI season when he and Ivan Herrera had back-to-back run-scoring singles with two outs in the fifth inning.
Herrera also had an RBI double in the seventh to pull St. Louis within 5-4. Yohan Ramirez got Nolan Gorman to fly out to end that threat with runners on second and third.
Mason Montgomery earned his seventh save with a spotless ninth.
"Nails," Ashcraft said of the bullpen. "Since the All-Star break, you give the game to the bullpen, and the bullpen comes through. There's no reserve there. Obviously, we try to go as deep as we can, but you turn the game over to a bullpen, can come to a clubhouse, get your work done with a lot of comfort."
Liberatore struck out nine in 5 2/3 innings while throwing a career-high 107 pitches. He gave up four runs on six hits and a pair of walks.
The Pirates got an unearned run in the third when Ramón Urías dropped Lowe's two-out popup, allowing Oneil Cruz to score.
Saturday's game
Rafael Flores Jr. hit a three-run home run and Lowe added a solo shot to lift the Pirates to a 6-2 victory over the Cardinals on Saturday.
The Pirates entered the game, having scored only eight runs in their previous six games.
Carmen Mlodzinski (7-6), the third Pirates pitcher, gave up one run and one hit in 3 1/3 innings. Six Pittsburgh pitchers held the Cardinals to just three hits.
Rookie Brycen Mautz (0-1) took the loss in his MLB debut for St. Louis. He gave up four runs on five hits and a walk in three innings. Mautz struck out eight.
In the fifth, Flores drove a 3-2 slider into the left-field bleachers for a three-run homer, extending Pittsburgh's advantage to 5-1.
Three consecutive errors in the sixth led to a run for St. Louis. With one out, shortstop Jocob Gonzalez booted two grounders followed by center fielder Cruz misplaying a routine fly. Pittsburgh also made three errors in Friday's game.
The Pirates went up 2-1 in the fourth. Jake Mangum singled to left but rookie Joshua Baez misplayed it and then didn't hustle after it. Mangum raced to third and was ruled out before the call was challenged and overturned. Mautz then gave up a run-scoring single to Gonzalez.
Baez hit his first home run at Busch Stadium in the third inning, sending an 0-1 slider from reliever Evan Sisk into the left-field seats. Baez made history when homered in each of his first three major league at-bats on Aug. 15 in Chicago.
Lowe homered in the first inning with one out.
Up next
Pittsburgh: RHP Paul Skenes (9-11, 3.79 ERA) starts Tuesday night in the opener of a three-game home series against San Francisco.