The St. Louis Cardinals pulled out a gritty 3-2 victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates on Thursday afternoon at LECOM Park in Bradenton, Fla., in a tightly contested Grapefruit League affair that showcased both clubs’ early-season preparations.
Nolan Gorman provided the game’s first fireworks in the top of the fourth, launching a solo home run to right-center field off Pirates starter Mitch Keller. The blast, a no-doubter off an 83.6 mph slider, traveled an estimated impressive distance and gave the Cardinals a 1-0 lead.
Pittsburgh responded emphatically in the bottom of the sixth when shortstop Alika Williams crushed a two-run homer to right-center off Cardinals left-hander Quinn Mathews, flipping the score to 2-1 in favor of the home team and momentarily halting St. Louis momentum.
The Cardinals clawed back quickly, though. In the top of the sixth, catcher Pedro Pagés delivered a key RBI single to center that plated Ramón Urías (who had walked and stolen second) to knot the game at 2-2. Then, in the eighth, St. Louis manufactured the decisive run: Joshua Baez was hit by a pitch from Pirates reliever Cam Sanders to lead off, advanced on a single by pinch-hitter Jimmy Crooks, and eventually scored to secure the 3-2 edge.
Dustin May turned in a strong outing for the Cardinals, tossing three scoreless innings with just one hit and one walk while flashing his trademark velocity in what continues to be an encouraging spring. Keller was solid through his assignment for Pittsburgh, keeping things close early.
The game also featured the ongoing experimentation with the Automated Ball-Strike system, including multiple successful challenges: one overturned a called strike on Masyn Winn in the first, another flipped a ball to a strike on Gorman, and a late one saw Brandon Lowe rung up after review.
St. Louis improves to 6-4 overall (3-1 on the road) in Grapefruit League play, while the Pirates’ strong start takes a minor hit, dropping them to 9-3. In a division where every edge matters, this back-and-forth contest offered a reminder of the competitive bite both NL Central foes are bringing into 2026.
