The St. Louis Cardinals unleashed a season-high offensive outburst Tuesday night at PNC Park, pounding out 12 hits and capitalizing on timely extra-base knocks to roll past the Pittsburgh Pirates 11-7 and take a 2-0 lead in the four-game series.
Nolan Gorman, Alec Burleson and Jordan Walker each drove in three runs, powering an attack that chased Pirates starter Braxton Ashcraft after 4⅓ innings and never let Pittsburgh mount a sustained comeback. Kyle Leahy earned the win (3-3) for the Cardinals, working into the sixth while allowing three runs on nine hits with seven strikeouts and no walks.
St. Louis struck first in the second when Gorman launched a solo home run to right field. Victor Scott II followed with a solo shot in the third, and Walker drove in JJ Wetherholt with a single to make it 3-0. The Cardinals then broke the game open in the fifth, plating three more on a ground-rule double by Burleson, a sacrifice fly from Walker and another sac fly from Gorman. By the time the inning ended, it was 6-0 and the Cardinals’ entire lineup had contributed.
The Pirates answered in the sixth with back-to-back home runs from Oneil Cruz and Ryan O’Hearn (the latter scoring Bryan Reynolds), cutting the deficit to 6-3. But St. Louis responded with three runs in the seventh — highlighted by Walker’s RBI single, Gorman’s RBI groundout and Masyn Winn’s RBI single — and pushed across two more in the eighth on Burleson’s two-run double.
Pittsburgh made it interesting late, scoring three in the eighth on RBI singles from O’Hearn and Nick Gonzales, then tacking on a solo homer from Ke’Bryant Griffin in the ninth. But Matt Svanson struck out the side in the ninth to close it out, preserving the victory.
Burleson finished 2-for-4 with two doubles and three RBIs. Walker added two hits and three RBIs, while Gorman chipped in the early homer and two more runs driven in. Ivan Herrera reached base four times (one hit, three walks) and scored three runs. For the Pirates, O’Hearn had three RBIs and Cruz added a homer, but the club’s two errors and inability to contain St. Louis’ middle-inning rallies proved costly.
The Cardinals improved to 16-13; the Pirates fell to 16-14. The clubs meet again Wednesday night in the rubber game of the series.
