Cardinals 6, Pirates 4
ST. LOUIS -- The St. Louis Cardinals finally cracked the code against the Pittsburgh Pirates.
Matt Carpenter cracked a game-winning two-run home run in the bottom of the ninth on Saturday as St. Louis beat Pittsburgh 6-4 at Busch Stadium for its first victory in five attempts against the Pirates this season.
Shortstop Aledmys Diaz started the winning rally by beating out an infield single against reliever A.J. Schugel (0-1). After Jeremy Hazelbaker's bid for a game-winning homer died at the wall in left-center, Carpenter belted a 402-foot shot into the Cardinals' bullpen in right-center for his fourth homer of the year.
Trevor Rosenthal (1-1) got the win despite yielding the tying run in the ninth as St. Louis (16-15) improved to 4-5 on the homestand. It was the fifth loss in six games for Pittsburgh (16-14).
St. Louis grabbed a 4-3 lead in the eighth on a two-out RBI single by Randal Grichuk that scored Stephen Piscotty.
However, Pittsburgh tied it on a two-out ground-rule double to left-center by Starling Marte in the ninth which plated pinch-hitter David Freese, who started the inning by reaching on a throwing error by Diaz.
Pittsburgh initiated scoring with two runs in the top of the first inning off starter Adam Wainwright. Gregory Polanco blooped an RBI single to left-center, plating John Jaso, and Jung Ho Kang brought Andrew McCutchen home with a sacrifice fly.
St. Louis equalized in its half of the first when Grichuk bounced a two-run single into left, scoring Matt Carpenter and Piscotty.
Piscotty led off the third with his fifth homer, a towering fly ball that bounced off the top of the right-center field wall and into the seats, that gave the Cardinals a 3-2 edge.
Wainwright retired 14 straight at one point and left with a one-run lead and one out in the seventh, but reliever Seung Hwan Oh couldn't hold it, permitting a two-out RBI single to Jaso that denied Wainwright a third straight win.
Wainwright lasted 6 1/3 innings, yielding seven hits and three runs with no walks and five strikeouts. Pirates starter Jeff Locke turned in a six-inning outing, yielding four hits and three runs with two walks and a strikeout.
NOTES: St. Louis 1B Matt Adams (left knee/quad) was back in the lineup Saturday after sitting out Friday night's game. Adams was injured in Thursday's game with Philadelphia, leaving after four innings. ... Pittsburgh 3B Jung Ho Kang's two-homer game Friday night was the second of his career. Four of his 17 career homers have occurred against Cardinals pitching. ... St. Louis pinch-hitters are batting .382 with an MLB-best 21 hits, seven homers and 14 RBIs. By contrast, the Atlanta Braves entered Saturday with only six homers as a team.