St. Louis, MO (SportsNetwork.com) – Matt Carpenter’s sacrifice fly in the
bottom of the 11th brought home the winning run as St. Louis outlasted
Pittsburgh by a 2-1 count at Busch Stadium.
Peter Bourjos started the deciding frame against Jared Hughes (0-1) with a
double, but was caught stealing third. Pete Kozma singled and Jon Jay kept the
rally alive on a base hit which put runners on the corners. Carpenter easily
plated Kozma with a long fly to left.
It made a winner of Carlos Villanueva (3-1) who allowed a hit and a walk in
the top of the 11th but remained unscathed.
Bourjos ended up with two of the six hits for the Cardinals, winners of
five in a row including two straight over the Bucs in extras.
John Lackey ended up allowing a run on six hits with four strikeouts and three
walks over six innings.
Starling Marte collected three hits, Gregory Polanco added two and a run
scored with Josh Harrison knocking in the lone run for the Pirates, who have
lost four of their last five.
Francisco Liriano no-hit the hosts through five, ending up working eight full
frames while yielding a run on three hits.
Polanco reached with a one-out single in the top of the third, stole second
and moved to third when Cards catcher Yadier Molina’s throw was wild, then
scored on a Harrison base hit.
Liriano walked a pair, yet did not allow a hit until Bourjos began the home
half of the sixth with a single to center.
Runners were on the corners after pinch-hitter Jason Heyward added a base hit
and Jay’s grounder to first plated Bourjos for the tying run, but the
next two batters went quietly.
Jhonny Peralta hit into an inning-ending double play in the home ninth and the
Pirates stranded a man on second in the 10th.
Game Notes
Carpenter recorded his second career walk-off sacrifice fly, after a similar
ending to a Cards game on Apr. 17, 2012 against the Reds in the bottom of the
10th to give his club a 2-1 win … St. Louis has won the last four contests
against Pittsburgh that reached extra innings, dating back to August of 2013.
