Pirates earn critical win
Rookie Agrazal pitches well, and Moran, Newman drive in runs in ninth- inning rally
ST. LOUIS — Thanks to Dario Agrazal and an opportunistic offense, it’s not yet time to start penning the Pirates’ eulogy.
In what was sort of a sneaky- big game in their season, the Pirates turned to Agrazal, a 24- year- old Panamanian- born pitcher making just his fourth MLB start, to snap out of this current funk.
It worked. Agrazal gave them a quality performance, the Pirates bullpen had a strong night, and the offense scratched out a couple of hits in the ninth inning, good enough for a 3- 1 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals on Tuesday at Busch Stadium.
The winning rally started with Starling Marte getting hit by a pitch. Josh Bell beat the shift for a single to give the Pirates runners at the corners. Colin Moran smoked a grounder to second that Kolten Wong dived to stop; however, he didn’t really have a play. Moran was safe. Marte scored.
Kevin Newman hit into a fielder’s choice
to allow Bell to score before Felipe Vazquez pitched the bottom of the ninth to earn his 21st save.
It was the first victory for the Pirates ( 45- 49) out of the All- Star break after getting swept over the weekend in Chicago and dropping Game 1 of this series on Monday night.
The outing from Agrazal was very good, enough that it should earn him at least an additional start. Although he seemed to lack command of his slider early, Agrazal eventually figured it out and worked six- plus innings, allowing an earned run on five hits and three walks.
It’s the third consecutive quality start for Agrazal, who now has a 2.45 ERA at this level.
The only hiccup, other than the slider early, was how Agrazal controlled the running game — or didn’t. Cardinals runners seemed to start timing Agrazal when he pitched from the stretch, meaning he’ll want to vary how long he takes before delivering a pitch.
Of course, that’s easily correctable and hardly a huge deal when you pounded the strike zone the way Agrazal did, something Pirates pitchers have not done nearly enough of lately.
Cardinals starter Jack Flaherty had a no- hitter going through four innings, until Corey Dickerson doubled to right- center field to lead off the fifth.
Newman staked the Pirates to a 1- 0 lead when he went the other way with a fastball. Two RBIs on the night gave Newman six in his past seven games.
The rally would be shortlived, though, as Newman was thrown out at second to end the inning. It was the second caught stealing of the night for the Pirates, who began the game having been thrown out just 11 times this season, fourth fewest in baseball.
St. Louis tied the score in the bottom of the fifth. Center fielder Harrison Bader started it with a oneout, hustle double to left. Flaherty traded places with him on a softly hit double down the third- base line, one that looked like it might have been foul.
By rule, the Pirates couldn’t challenge third base umpire Gary Cederstrom’s call, though that didn’t stop manager Clint Hurdle from voicing his displeasure.
The Pirates had a chance to pull ahead again in the seventh inning, when Marte led off with a single. Flaherty fell behind Dickerson 2- 0, and the Cardinals went with an intentional walk.
After battling out of an 02 hole to run the count full, Newman struck out swinging on a 93 mph two- seamer from Flaherty, ending the inning.
Richard Rodriguez has made 18 consecutive scoreless outings ( 18 innings pitches) and has been scored upon just once in 22 games since being recalled from Class AAA Indianapolis on May 27.
In the seventh inning, the Pirates needed this version of Rodriguez to wiggle out of a jam. Right fielder Dexter Fowler led off with a double that bounced atop the 8- foot wall in left, and he reached third base when Marte fumbled the ball while trying to pick it up.
A walk to second baseman Kolten Wong ended Agrazal’s night, turning things over to Rodriguez, who proceeded to put out the fire. Groundball to first, one out. Foul pop to first, two down. Then an easy bouncer to second to end the inning.
One strange thing: On the grounder to first, Fowler never broke from third base. With Bell’s arm ( average to maybe a tick below) and Fowler’s speed, he probably could have made it — but for whatever reason didn’t even both to try.
Francisco Liriano earned the win with a 1- 2- 3 eighth inning.
With the win, Hurdle tied Chuck Tanner for the fourth- most victories among Pirates managers with 711.