By MATT PIKE
A late sacrifice fly handed the St. Louis Cardinals a 2-1 loss to the Pittsburgh Pirates at PNC Park, and the Redbirds first consecutive losing seasons since 1958 and '59.
The game was tied until the eighth inning at 1-1, both teams scoring in the first inning. With two outs, Alec Burleson extended his league lead in RBI's to 113 with a solo home run giving St. Louis the lead, before Brandon Lowe singled home Oneil Cruz in the bottom half of the inning after Cruz led off the frame with a double and stole third base. Cardinals starter Kyle Leahy, in his final start of the season, pitched just two innings giving up three hits and one run while striking out three.
The Pirates struggled against the Redbirds bullpen, until the eighth inning, getting just four hits overall against a combination of Cooper Hjerpe, Gordon Graceffo, and Brycen Mautz. Hjerpe also struck out three while walking three, while Graceffo and Mautz each had one strikeout. Equally, St. Louis could not get past Pirates ace Paul Skenes after the one run, striking out eight times over 6.1 innings, walking twice and managing just three hits.
With his eight strikeouts, his final strikeout against Leo Bernal marking number 200, Skenes became the first Pirates pitcher with consecutive 200+ strikeout seasons since Bob Veale. The Cardinals did not fare much better against the Pittsburgh bullpen though, managing just two more hits and striking out five more times between four pitchers.
Former Cardinal Luke Weaver earned the win, after Spencer Horwitz drove in Ronny Simon on a sacrifice fly in the eighth inning off Cardinals reliever Ryne Stanek, who fell to 2-3 on the season, walking two batters, and giving up the one unearned run in one inning. Mason Montgomery earned his 17th save, striking out the side in the ninth inning for the Pirates.
At the plate, the Cardinals had just five hits on the day, with JJ Wetherholt leading the way going 2-for-4 with a double. Burleson was 1-for-4 with a home run and an RBI. Nathan Church and Iván Herrera also each had one hit on the day.
St. Louis will now travel to Milwaukee for the final three games of the season. Michael McGreevy (7-9, 3.84 ERA, 113Ks) takes the mound for the Cardinals against Robert Gasser (5-5, 4.01 ERA, 94Ks) for the Brewers. First pitch is at 6:40pm, coverage begins at 6:30pm on KY 102 (102.5 FM).
You can follow Matt on X @KfeqMatt.