A lot of things went right for the St. Louis Cardinals Tuesday night. Kyle Leahy pitched a solid 5 innings, multiple Cardinals tried to drown baseballs in the nearby Allegheny River and the St. Louis bullpen was adequate enough for another road victory.
The Cardinals lineup struck early and often with Nolan Gorman crushing a 413 foot home run into the sidewalk next to the river making it 1-0 Cardinals in the top of the 2nd inning.
In the bottom of the 2nd inning, JJ Wetherholt showed why he’s more than just an offensive threat making an acrobatic grab on a ball that was headed into right field before he smothered it and then fired a throw to first that Alec Burleson somehow managed to catch and strafe the bag for a Sportscenter highlight out.
St. Louis added to its lead in the top of the 3rd inning as Victor Scott II did the opposite of bunting for a change and instead launched a ball 2 feet further than Gorman which ended up in the Allegheny River.
JJ Wetherholt showed his power to all fields following up Victor’s bomb with a ball into the left-center field gap. He would later score on a two-out single by Jordan Walker giving the Cardinals a 3-0 lead.
In the top of the 5th inning, JJ Wetherholt and Ivan Herrera would both walk. Alec Burleson then connected for a ground rule double that would score JJ making it 4-0 Cardinals. Jordan Walker hit a sacrifice fly to center to score Herrera upping the St. Louis lead to 5-0. Gorman would follow suit with his own sacrifice fly scoring Burleson making it 6-0 Cardinals.
If you were just judging Kyle Leahy by his first five innings, you would say it was an epic outing. However, he did lose his mojo in the bottom of the 6th inning as he gave up a long home run to Oneil Cruz putting the Pirates on the board. A couple of batter later, O’Hearn would crush a two-run homer cutting into the St. Louis lead to just 6-3. Gordon Graceffo would put out that fire, though, getting a sweet double play to end the inning. Kyle Leahy would end the night after having pitched 5 1/3 inning giving up 9 hits, 3 earned runs with 7 strikeouts and no walks. All things considered, a very positive outing for Leahy.
The St. Louis Cardinals offense continued to be relentless playing small ball in the top of the 7th inning. After Herrera and Burleson walked, Jordan Walker smoked a single to center scoring Herrera and advancing Burleson to third making it 7-3 Cardinals. Gorman grounded out, but Burleson scored on the fielder’s choice upping the St. Louis lead to 8-3. Walker would then score on a single by Masyn Winn giving St. Louis its 6-run lead back making it 9-3 Cardinals.
St. Louis would pile on in the top of the 8th inning as JJ Wetherholt was hit on the hand by a pitch and would advance to third on a double by Herrera. Alec Burleson, in a moment of Deja vu, hammered a double to right center scoring both Wetherholt and Herrera upping the Cardinals lead to 11-3.
While he didn’t make any highlight reels, Jordan Walker made a lot of good decisions at the plate Tuesday night going 2-4 with 3 RBI’s and a run scored. Masyn Winn and Alec Burleson were also 2-4 on the night. Pedro Pagés was the last starter to get a hit as he dumped a single into right field in the top of the 9th inning. Nearly every Cardinal contributed to this lopsided win. Positives in the St. Louis bullpen including 1 2/3 innings of hitless baseball from Gordon Graceffo. Justin Bruihl allowed 3 hits and a 3 runs in the bottom of the 8th, but the Cardinals lead was secure at that point at 11-6. He was bailed out by a Masyn Winn double play to end the crisis. Matt Svanson pitched the 9th inning for St. Louis giving Riley O’Brien yet another down day of rest. He gave up a solo shot to Konnor Griffin which game the Pirates a consolation run for the final score of 11-7 Cardinals.
An honorary tip of the cap to Pirates pitcher Hunter Barco who was tasked with pitching 4 2/3 innings of relief throwing a staggering 84 pitches. Yes, he was shelled with 5 of the Cardinals 11 runs, but he was given the glory-less task of finishing up a lost game for Pittsburgh.
The St. Louis Cardinals are scheduled to start Andre Pallante in game 3 of their series versus the Pirates Wednesday night, but be aware there is rain possible in the forecast that might interfere with the scheduled 5:40pm central time first pitch at PNC Park.
