PITTSBURGH —
Pedro Alvarez stayed hot, blasting his 26th homer of the season and driving in three runs as the Pittsburgh Pirates rolled to a 5-0 victory over St. Louis on Wednesday night.
The third baseman — who hit two homers on Tuesday — continued his season-long dominance of the Cardinals. His three-run shot in the third gave him seven home runs and 23 RBI in 15 games against St. Louis this year as Pittsburgh moved within one game of the NL’s second wild card spot.
Wandy Rodriguez (9-13) worked six tidy innings for Pittsburgh to pick up his first victory as a starter since being acquired in a trade last month. Rodriguez walked three and struck out three while helping the Pirates shut out the Cardinals for the second straight night.
Joe Kelly (4-6) battled control problems during five rocky innings, giving up five runs on eight hits.
The victory helped the Pirates take the season series from St. Louis 8-7, not an insignificant number with both teams battling for a postseason berth. If the two clubs are tied for the second wild card spot at the end of the regular season, the Pirates would have host the play-in game.
There’s still a long way to go before the first week of October, particularly for Pittsburgh. Still, the Pirates will head into September still in the mix, something they haven’t done in 20 years.
Pittsburgh appeared to be teetering on the edge of collapse following a 4-3 loss on Monday that dropped the Pirates three games back. They responded with a pair of convincing wins being the streaky Alvarez.
The former first-round pick has finally developed into the lineup-anchoring power hitter the team envisioned when it drafted him four years ago. He’s certainly feasted on St. Louis pitching this season, going 23-for-58 (.396).
He gave Rodriguez all the offense necessary in the third. Coming to the plate with two on and two out, Alvarez drilled an 82 mph curveball from Kelly into the right field seats. The ball left the park so quickly Alvarez barely had time to break into his home run trot before it landed.
The blast gave the Pirates a 4-0 lead and Alvarez made it 5-0 in the fifth when he doubled with two outs and scored on a single by Josh Harrison.
Rodriguez took advantage of the cushion. He came in 0-4 as a starter with the Pirates after being acquired from Houston on July 24. His only victory came in two relief innings during Pittsburgh’s 19-inning victory in St. Louis on Aug. 19.
Pittsburgh manager Clint Hurdle blamed part of Rodriguez’s problems on the pressure of trying to validate the trade. Hurdle urged the veteran lefthander to relax, and Rodriguez looked at ease playing with a sizable lead for the first time as a Pirate. The Cardinals managed just three paltry singles and never got a runner to third.
The Cardinals played without catcher Yadier Molina, who sat out as a precaution following a brutal collision at home with Harrison on Tuesday night. Molina suffered neck, shoulder and arm soreness after Harrison crashed into him trying to score from second.
Tony Cruz started in Molina’s place and had two of St. Louis’ five hits, but the Cardinals failed to muster any offense as their scoreless streak reached 21 innings.
NOTES: Pittsburgh 2B Neil Walker missed his third straight game with a stiff back. Walker said he’s starting to feel better but still has no timetable on a possible return. ... The Cardinals begin a four-game series in Washington on Thursday. Jaime Garcia (7-9, 3.72 ERA) takes on Washington’s Edwin Jackson (7-9, 3.72) in the opener ... Pittsburgh is off Thursday and travels to Milwaukee for a weekend series on Friday. Jeff Karstens (5-3, 3.47) faces Milwaukee’s Mark Rogers (2-1, 4.28) in the first game.
Pirates
Alvarez stays hot, Pirates upend Cards
- Pirates
-
-
Pirates end Latos’ streak, beat Reds, 4-0
Pedro Alvarez singled home a pair of runs in the first inning, and the Pittsburgh Pirates ended Mat Latos’ streak of 21 regular-season starts without a loss, beating the Cincinnati Reds 4-0 on Tuesday night.
-
Pirates give up 4 solo homers, lose to Reds, 4-1
A hanging a slider, a fastball that strayed right down the middle. With no margin for error, left-hander Francisco Liriano made two of them that went a long way and decided a close game.
-
Cole, Alvarez lead Pirates past Dodgers, 6-3
Gerrit Cole is off to a perfect start in the major leagues. The rookie, however, feels he has been far from perfect.
-
Pirates fall to Dodgers in 11
Brandon Cumpton catapulted from Triple-A anonymity to big league starter in a span of three days.
At the moment, he has no immediate plans to go back.
The Pittsburgh Pirates’ rookie starter put together five-plus effective innings in his major league debut on Saturday against the Los Angeles Dodgers, and while the Pirates fell 5-3 in 11 innings they may have gained a bit of stability for their injury wracked pitching staff. -
COLUMN: Can Cole live up to the hype?
Have you ever wondered what it was like to debut in the major leagues? To go out and fire strike after strike?
After watching Gerrit Cole’s performance with the Pittsburgh Pirates on Tuesday evening, Bob Walk said something that brought back memories from the past. -
Pirates, Locke shut down Dodgers, 3-0
Jeff Locke allowed just two hits over seven innings and the Pittsburgh Pirates edged the Los Angeles Dodgers 3-0 on Friday night.
Locke (6-1) struck out five and walked one to win his sixth straight decision while shaving his ERA to 2.19. Andrew McCutchen hit a two-run double in the third inning off Stephen Fife (1-2). -
Giants pound Morton, Pirates, 10-0
Matt Cain allowed two hits over 6 2-3 innings and the San Francisco Giants pounded the Pittsburgh Pirates 10-0 on Thursday night.
A year to the day after throwing a perfect game against Houston, Cain (5-3) was nearly flawless again. -
Marte sparks Pirates past Giants
Starling Marte had a career-high four hits and scored four times and the Pittsburgh Pirates beat the San Francisco Giants 12-8 on Wednesday night.
-
Cole makes highly anticipated debut
Opening night. Nothing like it, be it a Broadway opening or a movie premier.
Or the first day of the rest of a baseball player’s life.
It’s an evening when glamor and nerves co-exist, when the past means nothing and the future dissipates into a meaningless mist. -
Gerrit impressive in debut for Pirates
Gerrit Cole took a shutout into the seventh inning of his major league debut and hit a two-run single in his first at-bat Tuesday night, leading the Pittsburgh Pirates to an 8-2 victory over the San Francisco Giants in front of a festive crowd.
- More Pirates Headlines
-
Pirates end Latos’ streak, beat Reds, 4-0
