Pirates use 3-run sixth to edge Cardinals

Connor Joe hit a two-run double and Carlos Santana had an RBI single during a three-run sixth that helped lift the Pittsburgh Pirates to a 4-3 victory over the visiting St. Louis Cardinals on Saturday night

Ke’Bryan Hayes added a home run for the Pirates, who have taken the first two games of the three-game set

Pittsburgh starter Luis L. Ortiz gave up one run in two innings before his outing was cut short by a rain delay, throwing the Pirates into an unplanned bullpen game

Dauri Moreta (3-1), the fifth of eight Pittsburgh pitchers, went 1 2/3 scoreless innings to earn the win.

David Bednar pitched the ninth for his 12th save.

Nolan Gorman and Willson Contreras each homered for the Cardinals, who have lost four of their past five games

St. Louis starter Jordan Montgomery (2-7) allowed four runs (one earned) and four hits in 5 2/3 innings, with five strikeouts and one walk. He has now gone 10 straight starts without a win, with his last victory coming on April 8.

Contreras led off the second with his sixth homer of the season to give St. Louis a 1-0 lead.

At the end of the second, the game went into a rain delay, which lasted an hour.

While Montgomery continued after the delay, Ortiz was pulled. Angel Perdomo came in for the third, making his Pirates debut. He retired all seven batters he faced

With two outs in the fifth, Hayes homered for the second game in a row. His shot to left tied things at 1-1.

In the sixth, Mark Mathias reached on a rare fielding error by Nolan Arenado at third. Pinch runner Ji Hwan Bae advanced to second on Jason Delay’s sacrifice bunt. Andrew McCutchen grounded out before Bryan Reynolds drew a four-pitch walk. Joe then doubled off the wall in left to drive in both runners for a 3-1 Pittsburgh lead.

That chased Montgomery for Jordan Hicks. Santana dropped a single into shallow left, with Joe scoring to push Pittsburgh’s lead to 4-1.

Paul Goldschmidt singled to left with one out in the eighth. Gorman followed with his 14th homer of the season, a towering blast to right, to pull the Cardinals to within 4-3

–Field Level Media