Field Level Media
Jul 25, 2020
Adam Wainwright and three relievers combined on a 3-hitter as the St. Louis Cardinals defeated the visiting Pittsburgh Pirates 9-1 on Saturday.
Wainwright (1-0) held the Pirates to their one run and three hits in six innings to earn the victory. John Gant, Tyler Webb and Daniel Ponce de Leon combined to close out the last three innings.
The victory was Wainwright's 163rd for the Cardinals, tying him with Bob Forsch for third-most in franchise history.
Paul DeJong, Matt Carpenter and Tommy Edman led the Cardinals' attack by driving in two runs each.
Pirates starting pitcher Trevor Williams (0-1) suffered the loss while allowing three runs in 3 2/3 innings.
Paul Goldschmidt's blast off the third deck of the left field stands gave the Cardinals a 1-0 first-inning lead.
He is 4-for-8 with a walk and four runs scored in the first two games of this series. This was just more of the same for Goldschmidt, who hit .366 in 19 games against the Pirates last season with three doubles, seven homers and 23 RBIs.
The Pirates tied the game 1-1 in the second inning. Josh Bell and Colin Moran stroked singles before Wainwright hit Phillip Evans with a pitch to load the bases.
Guillermo Heredia struck out, but John Ryan Murphy drew a walk to force home a run. But Wainwright stranded the bases loaded by retiring Cole Tucker and Kevin Newman.
The Cardinals broke the tie in the fourth inning. DeJong hit a leadoff single, went to third on Yadier Molina's hit-and-run single and scored on Dexter Fowler's single. Tyler O'Neill followed with RBI single that pushed the lead to 3-1.
Then the Cardinals broke the game open in the seventh against Kyle Crick and Robbie Erlin. Harrison Bader bunted his way on base and stole second. Kolten Wong walked, Goldschmidt reached on a two-out infield single and DeJong lined a two-run single to make it 5-1.
Carpenter greeted reliever Erlin with a two-run double, increasing the lead to 7-1. Edman's two-run triple in the eighth inning made it 9-1.
--Field Media Level