LOSS TO CARDINALS
Pirates lose second consecutive extra-inning game to Cardinals
ST. LOUIS — The only man to drive in a run for the Pirates Saturday afternoon took a pragmatic approach to the team’s second consecutive game lost in walk-off fashion.
“All of you can feel free to answer this, but has a team ever finished 162-0?” Josh Harrison asked the media assembled at his locker. “So for us, we expect to win every game. We expect to win every game, but we understand there are going to be some tough losses out there.”
Saturday fell into that category. The Pirates lost to the St. Louis Cardinals in extra innings, 2-1, at Busch Stadium, and though the decisive run came against the Pirates’ bullpen, the issues started with the lineup.
The Pirates went 1 for 13 with runners in scoring position, that one hit coming on Harrison’s third-inning single, and they stranded 18 men on base.
“It’s no secret the past couple games, we’ve had some opportunities and let them get away from us,” Harrison said. “You just go back to the drawing board and the main thing, keep it simple. Simplify things.”
Pete Kozma singled off Jared Hughes with one out in the 11th, and Jon Jay bounced a single over Pedro Alvarez’s head, putting runners on the corners with one out. Matt Carpenter’s sacrifice fly
run.
“Extremely frustrating to sit back and see it go down like that,” Hughes (0-1) said. “At the same time, Carpenter did a good job putting that last ball in the air.”
The Pirates had multiple runners on base in the first, third, fifth, sixth, seventh and ninth innings but scored only one run.
Aside from the one-run third inning, they couldn’t score despite putting men in scoring position in the first, fifth, sixth, seventh, ninth, 10th and 11th innings.
“We just need to continue to work to get better,” manager Clint Hurdle said regarding hitting with runners in scoring position. “We’ve got to work to find a way to plate some runs, and everybody’s aware of that, and everybody’s working to get better to do that.”
The inability to capitalize on baserunners also prevented the Pirates from capitalizing on a wonderful outing from Francisco Liriano. He allowed one run in eight innings, lowering his ERA to 1.95.
“Fastball in and out, I think it was better than the last couple starts,” Liriano said. “When you got pretty good location with the fastball, everything works out a lot better.”
Gregory Polanco helped create a run in the third inning. He flared a single to right, stole second and went to third when Yadier Molina’s throw went into left field. Harrison’s single put the Pirates ahead, 1-0.
“I just wanted to stay short,” Harrison said. “They were playing in. I wanted to get a ball through the infield.”
Liriano did not allow a hit until Peter Bourjos led off the bottom of the sixth with a single, but that hit led to the Cardinals’ first run.
Jason Heyward pinch-hit for John Lackey and singled, pushing Bourjos to third. Jay grounded to Alvarez, who moved across the diamond from third base this offseason because of throwing issues, at first base.
Alvarez tagged the bag to retire Jay, thought about going to second to get Heyward and then threw to the plate. Even an on-target throw might not have gotten Bourjos, a fast runner, but Alvarez’s throw sailed high and wide.
Lackey pitched six innings and gave up one run and six hits. Six Cardinals relievers held the Pirates scoreless.
“Obviously you want to be able to push across more runs,” Harrison said. “You’ve got to deal with what you’ve got and sometimes that’s not the case.”