|
 Third baseman Jung Ho Kang furthered endeared himself to the Pirates
faithful as he drove in the go-ahead run in the seventh and finished
2-for-4 with a home run and two RBIs as the Pirates earned a 4-3
victory over the St. Louis Cardinals on Sunday.
Pinch-hitter Steve Lombardozzi walked leading off the home seventh
and Pirates manager Clint Hurdle called for second baseman Josh
Harrison to bunt him over. That put a man in scoring position in a
tie game for Kang, batting .429 in his last 12 games, and he
delivered.
"He's swinging the bat well," Hurdle said. "He's giving us good
at-bats, he's shown the ability to drive in a run."
The Cardinals dropped a series for the first time this season as the
teams each scored 16 runs over the three weekend games.
"We had a chance to come in here and win the last couple games," St.
Louis manager Mike Matheny said. "We don't really do the whole
series thing. I think it's important that we just go game to game
and this is one we had a chance."
Kang gave the Pirates an early lead when he sent an 0-2 fastball
from Cardinals starter Tyler Lyons over the left-field fence in the
first inning. Kang's second home run of the season put Pittsburgh up
1-0.
The Pirates added a run in the fourth as left fielder Starling Marte
reached base on an infield single, then advanced to third as Lyons'
throw to first went wide and into foul ground. Shortstop Jordy
Mercer hit a hard line drive that third baseman Matt Reynolds
couldn't handle for a single that scored Marte for a 2-0 Pirates
lead.
St. Louis tied the game with two outs in the second. Center fielder
Peter Bourjos singled off Pirates starter Jeff Locke then scored
when second baseman Kolten Wong hit his fourth home run of the year
to right field.
"Fortunately for me I was able to push one a little bit and get a
good swing on it," Wong said.
The Pirates took the lead back in the home half of the sixth as
center fielder Andrew McCutchen led off with a double and Marte
followed with a single. Right fielder Gregory Polanco pinch hit and
flew to left, allowing McCutchen to tag up from third and score for
a 3-2 Pirates lead.
Lyons was pulled after McCutchen's double and allowed three runs on
five hits in five-plus innings. He walked one and struck out five.
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"I thought I was able to make a lot of pretty good pitches," Lyons
said. "I think there were two that you definitely would have that
weren't quality pitches."
Right fielder Jason Heyward tied the game again in the seventh with
a single to score Reynolds, who doubled to chase Locke from the
game.
Locke gave up three runs on five hits in 6 2/3 innings. He walked
two and struck out one.
"I wouldn't say that I had excellent command or anything like that,"
Locke said. "I think I threw strikes in counts when I needed to."
Right-hander Jared Hughes (1-1) earned the win for Pittsburgh, as he
recorded the final out of the seventh. Right-hander Mitch Harris
(1-1) yielded the go-ahead run to take the loss for St. Louis.
Right-hander Mark Melancon worked a scoreless ninth for his seventh
save.
NOTES: Pittsburgh LF Starling Marte started Sunday's game after he
was removed in the fourth inning Saturday with dizziness. ... St.
Louis LF Matt Holliday has reached base in each of his 29 games
played this season, tying Enos Slaughter's 29-game mark for the
third-longest such streak to begin a season. ... Each team wore pink
gear for Mother's Day to raise national awareness for breast cancer.
[© 2015 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.]
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