Henry Davis’ eighth-inning sacrifice fly scored the game’s lone run, lifting the host Pittsburgh Pirates to a 1-0 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals on Tuesday night.
The Pirates extended their winning streak to a season-high five games and dealt the Cardinals their second loss in a row following a three-game win streak.
St. Louis has been shut out in each of its past four defeats. Before that, the Cardinals had been blanked only three times in their first 80 games.
Pittsburgh entered play Tuesday having scored 37 runs over the past four games, but the Pirates were held scoreless for seven innings by Cardinals starter Andre Pallante. The right-hander yielded only one hit — a fourth-inning single by Andrew McCutchen. Pallante issued two walks and struck out three.
The Pirates’ offense woke up in the eighth against reliever Phil Maton (1-3). Ke’Bryan Hayes led off with a single to extend his hitting streak to 10 games. Pinch hitter Adam Frazier followed with a bloop ground-rule double that bounced just inside the right field line and out of play, putting runners on second and third.
Davis then sent a fly ball to center field, deep enough to drive in the decisive run.
Great defensive plays by the Pirates kept the Cardinals from scoring multiple times, including a play at the plate that preserved Pittsburgh’s lead in the ninth.
With runners on second and third and one out, Victor Scott II hit a grounder to first baseman Spencer Horwitz, who threw on target to the plate to Davis, who then tagged out Jose Fermin. Closer David Bednar then locked up his 12th save by striking out Brendan Donovan.
Pirates ace Paul Skenes, Caleb Ferguson, Isaac Mattson (2-0) and Bednar combined for the shutout — Pittsburgh’s ninth of the season. It was the first time the Pirates shut out the Cardinals in back-to-back games since 2012.
Skenes pitched five innings, allowing five hits, walking one and striking out five on 88 pitches.
Pittsburgh left fielder Tommy Pham threw out Willson Contreras at the plate after a single by Pedro Pages to keep the game scoreless in the fourth inning.
Contreras had reached base when he was hit on the left hand by a Skenes fastball. He was removed from the game before the bottom of the fourth.
The Pirates won the series opener 7-0 on Monday, their fourth straight win by at least seven runs, the franchise’s longest streak since 1925.
–Field Level Media
