Get ready to watch a lot of Cardinals highlights.
The Cardinals continued their four-game set against the Pirates in Pittsburgh on Saturday. Adam Wainwright took the bump across from Steven Brault. Wainwright threw another seven shutout innings en route to his thirteenth win of the season, continuing his trend of stifling the Pirates’ offense in 2021. The Cardinals’ offense had a huge day against the Pirates’ pinching, as Tommy Edman, Paul Goldschmidt, Dylan Carlson, Edmundo Sosa, and Wainwright all notched RBI (Sosa knocked in five by himself) in a 13-0 blowout.
1st Inning
Tommy Edman led off again for the Cards and flew out to right field. Paul Goldschmidt followed with a groundout to shortstop. Tyler O’Neill flew a fastball to center for the final out.
Ben Gamel tapped a sinker back to Wainwright for the first out in the bottom of the frame. Ke’Bryan Hayes rolled a sharp grounder to Nolan Arenado, who made a tough play on the short hop for out number two. Bryan Reynolds then chopped a changeup to second for the final out.
2nd Inning
Nolan Arenado opened the second with a flyout to the warning track in center field. Yadier Molina took a sinker back up the middle for a single. Dylan Carlson followed with a walk to put two runners on with one away. Edmundo Sosa tore a middle/middle fastball into the left-center gap, scoring Yadi and Carlson for a 2-0 lead on a triple.
Harrison Bader grounded a changeup back to Brault for the second out. Wainwright closed the top of the frame with a groundout to short.
Colin Moran grounded out to first to start the bottom of the frame. Michael Chavis followed with a groundout to third. Wilmer Difo was punched out on a fastball that caught the black on the inside corner to close the inning.
3rd Inning
Edman led off the third with a double into the left-center gap. Goldschmidt singled to right on a 3-2 changeup, scoring Edman to extend the Cards’ lead to 3-0. O’Neill ripped a first-pitch sinker to left to put two on. Arenado jumped on another first pitch and lined it to right to load the bases. Yadi chopped into a 1-2 fielder’s choice at home as the bases remained loaded with one out. Carlson chased an elevated fastball for strike three. Sosa came through again, hitting his second triple of the night into right-center over a diving Chavis and emptying the bases to give the Cards a 6-0 lead. Bader received an intentional walk to bring up Wainwright, who singled to bring home Sosa to make it 7-0 while Bader moved to third. Edman closed the long inning for Brault with a groundout to third.
Kevin Newman grounded out sharply to third for the first out. Michael Perez skied a 3-2 cutter to left for out number two. Brault then slapped a curveball to third to put the Bucs down in order.
4th Inning
Kyle Keller replaced Brault in the fourth even though Brault hit for himself in the third due to a short bench, as the Pirates cut Gregory Polanco before the game. Goldschmidt kicked off the fourth with a flyout to right in foul territory. O’Neill drew a walk on six pitches. Arenado skied a curveball to left for out number two. Yadi then popped out to first to send the game to the bottom of the fourth.
Gamel struck out to open the bottom of the inning, swinging over a 3-2 curveball. Hayes grounded out to Wainwright and Reynolds flew out to right as Wainwright continued to frustrate the Pirates.
5th Inning
Cole Tucker replaced Chavis in right field in the fifth inning. Carlson popped out to the catcher for the first out. Sosa followed with a lineout to left. Bader then grounded out to second as the Cards went down in a 1-2-3 inning.
Moran singled to center for the Pirates’ first hit of the night. Tucker struck out chasing a low curveball. Difo then flew out to center and Newman grounded out to third for the last two outs.
6th Inning
Anthony Banda took the mound for the Bucs in the sixth and retired Wainwright on a strikeout. Edman reached on a soft infield single to Hayes at third. Goldschmidt then scored him, knocking a double to the left field corner to make it 8-0 Cardinals. O’Neill was then called out on strikes and Arenado flew out to the wall in left for the last out.
Perez struck out swinging at a low curveball. Anthony Alford pinch hit for Banda and lined out to short. Gamel singled to center and tried to stretch the hit into a double. Bader tried to make the throw but threw the ball off the bag at second base, allowing Gamel to move to third. The error didn’t hurt the Cards, however, as Hayes lined out to center for the last out on a fantastic diving catch by Bader.
7th Inning
Luis Oviedo replaced Banda on the bump for the Pirates as Alford stayed in to play left, moving nearly the entire defense to different positions. Yadi began the seventh with a groundout to short. Carlson walked on five pitches. Sosa grounded into a fielder’s choice but moved to second on a wild pitch to Bader. Bader then drew a walk before Oviedo threw another wild pitch to Wainwright, moving the runners to second and third. Wainwright walked to load the bases for Edman, who reached on an RBI infield single to bring the score to 9-0. Goldschmidt then drew a walk, scoring Bader to stretch the lead again to 10-0. O’Neill struck out swinging to end the top of the inning.
Reynolds led off the bottom of the frame with a double. Moran struck out swinging at another curveball in the dirt. Tucker drew a six-pitch walk. Difo then popped out to short and Newman popped out to second as the Bucs continued to struggle to get anything going on offense.
8th Inning
Sam Howard relieved Oviedo for Pittsburgh in the eighth and walked pinch hitter Jose Rondon on eight pitches. Andrew Knizner made a rare appearance, pinch hitting for Yadi but striking out swinging. Carlson, after a frustrating night at the plate, got an 0-2 fastball in the top of the zone and hit it just over the wall and off of Alford’s glove for a home run to put the Redbirds up 12-0. (Carlson thought Alford robbed the home run and had to be told by his teammates that it was a home run after all which made for a funny moment.)
Sosa followed the homer with a single. Bader popped a slider to short for the second out. Lars Nootbaar pinch hit for Wainwright and doubled to move Sosa to third. Edman then singled to third, scoring Sosa to bring the score to 13-0. Matt Carpenter pinch hit for Goldschmidt and struck out swinging to close the top of the frame.
Junior Fernandez relieved Wainwright in the eighth and retired Perez on a lineout to short. Alford followed with a single to center. Gamel swung over a sinker for another strikeout. Yoshi Tsutsugo pinch hit for Howard and walked to put two on, but Reynolds struck out swinging to strand both runners.
9th Inning
Difo got the call in the ninth to eat an inning for the Pirates and got O’Neill with a groundout. Jose Rondon skied a 78 mph fastball into center for the second out. Knizner, Carlson, and Sosa all singled to load the bases, but Bader flew out to left to leave the bags loaded.
Kodi Whitley got some work for the Cards in the ninth, starting by retiring Moran on a groundout to second. Tucker drew another walk on seven pitches. Difo followed with a single, but Newman grounded into a 5-4-3 double play, sealing the 13-0 rout for the Cardinals.
The Cards improve to 66-62 with the win and gain ground on the Reds, who now lead the Cardinals by three games in the Wild Card chase. The series finale against the Pirates is scheduled for Sunday afternoon at 12:05 PM CT, with Kwang Hyun Kim taking on Wil Crowe.
Final Pitching Lines
Cardinals
Wainwright (W, 13-7): 7 IP / 3 H / 0 R / 0 ER / 1 BB / 5 K / 0 HR
Fernandez: 1 IP / 1 H / 0 R / 0 ER / 1 BB / 2 K / 0 HR
Whitley: 1 IP / 1 H / 0 R / 0 ER / 1 BB / 0 K / 0 HR
Pirates
Brault (L, 0-3): 3 IP / 8 H / 7 R / 7 ER / 2 BB / 1 K / 0 HR
Keller: 2 IP / 0 H / 0 R / 0 ER / 1 BB / 0 K / 0 HR
Banda: 1 IP / 2 H / 1 R / 1 ER / 0 BB / 2 K / 0 HR
Oviedo: 1 IP / 1 H / 2 R / 2 ER / 4 BB / 1 K / 0 HR
Howard: 1 IP / 4 H / 3 R / 3 ER / 1 BB / 2 K / 1 HR
Difo: 1 IP / 3 H / 0 R / 0 ER / 0 BB / 0 K / 0 HR
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