Goldschmidt's blast powers Cardinals past Pirates

[July 18, 2019]    Paul Goldschmidt hit a go-ahead three-run home run in the bottom of the seventh inning on Wednesday afternoon as the St. Louis Cardinals beat the Pittsburgh Pirates 6-5.

Cardinals first baseman Paul Goldschmidt (46) is congratulated by teammates after beating the Pittsburgh Pirates at Busch Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Joe Puetz-USA TODAY Sports

The Cardinals took two of three from the Pirates and have won four of six to open the second half. Pittsburgh has lost five of six since the All-Star Break.

The Pirates carried a 4-3 lead into the seventh, and Francisco Liriano (4-2) retired the first batter he faced, Harrison Bader, before giving up a single to Tommy Edman and issuing a walk to Jose Martinez. Goldschmidt then greeted Michael Feliz by homering to left-center field on a 2-2 pitch.

The rally made a winner out of John Brebbia (3-3), who threw two perfect innings of relief. Andrew Miller tossed a 1-2-3 eighth before Carlos Martinez earned his sixth save despite allowing three hits, including Bryan Reynolds' two-out RBI single. With the tying run on third, Martinez induced Starling Marte to hit into a game-ending force out.

Goldschmidt's homer provided the final lead change during a back-and-forth afternoon. Marte homered in the first inning to give the Pirates a short-lived lead that disappeared when Tyler O'Neill delivered an RBI single in the bottom of the inning and Jose Martinez lofted a sacrifice fly in the second.

The Pirates chased Cardinals starter Daniel Ponce de Leon during a three-run fourth in which Pittsburgh starting pitcher Chris Archer laced a game-tying RBI single two batters before Reynolds hit a two-run single.

The hot-hitting O'Neill hit a solo homer in the fifth to pull the Cardinals within 4-3. O'Neill finished 2-for-4 and is batting .400 (16-for-40) with four homers and 11 RBIs in 11 games in July.

Edman also had two hits for the Cardinals. Kevin Newman finished with three hits for the Pirates while Archer added two hits.

Ponce de Leon allowed four runs on eight hits and two walks while striking out three over 3 2/3 innings. Archer gave up three runs on five hits and two walks in six innings while striking out eight.

--Field Level Media

[© 2019 Thomson Reuters. All rights reserved.]

Copyright 2019 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.  Thompson Reuters is solely responsible for this content.