Cardinals get to Skenes early as St. Louis completes 4-game sweep in
Pittsburgh with 10-5 victory
[May 01, 2026]
By WILL GRAVES
PITTSBURGH (AP) — JJ Wetherholt led off with a home run
against Pirates ace Paul Skenes, and the St. Louis Cardinals finished
off a four-game sweep of the Pittsburgh Pirates with a 10-5 win on
Thursday.
Skenes (4-2) fell to 0-5 against the Cardinals after allowing five runs,
four earned, in five innings. The reigning NL Cy Young Award winner's
brilliant April finished with a rare dud, as Pittsburgh's losing streak
hit five. |
St. Louis Cardinals' Jordan Walker, right, watches his two-run home run
off Pittsburgh Pirates pitcher Paul Skenes (30) during the first inning
of a baseball game in Pittsburgh, Thursday, April 30, 2026. (AP
Photo/Gene J. Puskar) |
|
The 23-year-old had been masterful after a shaky performance on
opening day, allowing only three runs over his last five starts.
The Cardinals matched that in the first inning alone.
Wetherholt, who grew up in the Pittsburgh suburbs, sent a cutter
into the right-field seats three pitches into the game. Jordan
Walker followed three batters later by turning on a sweeper that
scraped over the left-field wall, marking just the second time
in Skenes' 62 big league starts that he surrendered multiple
homers in the same inning.
Alec Burleson finished with three hits and drove in three runs
for the Cardinals. Wetherholt, Walker, Nolan Gorman, and Pedro
Pages had two hits each. Nathan Church added a two-run double
during a five-run eighth to give the Cardinals some breathing
room after the Pirates had cut a four-run deficit to one.
Gordon Graceffo (2-0) won in relief of starter Hunter Dobbins,
who didn't make it out of the fifth inning in his first major
league start since tearing the ACL in his right knee last summer
while playing for Boston. Dobbins was acquired in December's
trade that sent Willson Contreras to the Red Sox.
Bryan Reynolds had two hits and drove in three runs for the
Pirates. Brandon Lowe hit his eighth homer for Pittsburgh, which
played sloppy defense behind Skenes to head into May with its
promising start to the season in danger of slipping away.
Up next
Cardinals: return home to welcome the Los Angeles Dodgers over
the weekend.
Pirates: host NL Central rival Cincinnati to start a three-game
weekend series on Friday.
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