Game 21 Recap-
Pittsburgh Pirates 7- St. Louis Cardinals 4
Pirates got some timely hits and 8 innings of shutout pitching to rally vs the St. Louis Cardinals tonight, 7-4 at PNC Park in Pittsburgh. The win was the 2nd in a row for the Boys in Black and they go for the sweep Thursday Night.
The game did not get off to a good start as RH SP Ian Snell allowed 6 of the 1st 7 St Louis batters to reach base. 3b Troy Glaus drove in 2 runs with a double and 2b Adam Kennedy made it 4-0 with an rbi single. Snell claims his mechanics were out of whack and after speaking with veteran RH SP Matt Morris in the dugout between innings, he straightened himself out.
The Cardinals started RH Todd Wellemeyer, one of the pleasant surprises in the NL at 2-0, and he came out strong. The Pirates got to him for 2 runs in the 4th with rbi going to C Ryan Doumit(single) and RF Xavier Nady.(sac fly) Pittsburgh came all the way back with LF Jason Bay hitting a 2 run homer to square the score at 4-4. Wellemeyer’s final stat line was 6 innings pitched, 7 hits, 4 runs, 1 walk and 5 strike outs.
The Pirates took the game with an big inning in the 8th vs Cardinals RH RP Anthony Reyes. After a Doumit single and misplay on a potential double play, struggling 3b Jose Bautista drove him in with a single,5-4 Pittsburgh. Rookie SS Brian Bixler followed and broke an 0 for 16 slump with a double. PH Doug Mientkiewicz added to the lead with 2 more runs on an rbi single, 7-4.
Closer Matt Capps took the mound in the 9th and continued his great April(zero era) with a 1-2-3 Ninth for his 5th save.
Star of the Game..3b Jose Bautista gets the game winning hit and looks to be coming around. Although he is hitting .188 he has hits in his last 4 starts.
Next Game-
Thursday-7:05 PNC Park
Pirates LH Tom Gorzelanny(1-2) vs Cardinals RH Joel Piniero(0-2)
Pirates Notes-
The game’s start was delayed 10 minutes due to a strong Thunderstorm…. RF Xavier Nady has a career high 11 game hit streak… After starting the season with a 19 game hit streak, Nate McLouth went 0 for 4 and was hitless for the 2nd consecutive day
