Valdez, Triolo homer in Pirates’ win over Cardinals
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ST. LOUIS (AP) -- Esmerlyn Valdez and Jared Triolo homered, Brandon Lowe added an RBI single and the Pittsburgh Pirates beat the St. Louis Cardinals 5-4 on Sunday.
Braxton Ashcraft (14-5) held St. Louis without an extra-base hit over five innings to become the first Pirates pitcher since 2018 (Jameson Taillon and Trevor Williams) to reach 14 wins. He allowed two runs on six hits, struck out three and walked one.
In the second inning, Valdez hit a two-run home run off Cardinals starter Matthew Liberatore (5-13) that stayed just inside the right-field foul pole. Triolo drilled a 412-foot blast into the left-field stands in the fifth inning to put Pittsburgh ahead 4-0.
Thomas Saggese singled three times and scored twice. He moved into the St. Louis lineup after infielder JJ Wetherholt was placed on the 10-day injured list Sunday with right wrist tendinitis.
Alec Burleson achieved his first 100 RBI season when he and Iván Herrera had back-to-back run-scoring singles with two outs in the fifth inning.
Herrera also had an RBI double in the seventh to pull St. Louis within 5-4. Yohan Ramirez got Nolan Gorman to fly out to end that threat with runners on second and third.
Mason Montgomery earned his seventh save with a spotless ninth.
Liberatore struck out nine in 5 2-3 innings while throwing a career-high 107 pitches. He gave up four runs on six hits and a pair of walks.
The Pirates got an unearned run in the third when Ramón Urías dropped Lowe’s two-out popup, allowing Oneil Cruz to score.
UP NEXT
Pittsburgh: RHP Paul Skenes (9-11, 3.79 ERA) starts Tuesday night in the opener of a three-game series at San Diego. The Padres have not announced their starter.
St. Louis: The Cardinals have not announced their rotation for a three-game series against Los Angeles that starts Tuesday night at Dodger Stadium. LHP Eric Lauer (8-6, 4.78 ERA) goes for LA in the opener.
SATURDAY
FLORES, LOWE SPARK PIRATES
ST. LOUIS (AP) -- Rafael Flores Jr. hit a three-run home run and Brandon Lowe added a solo shot to lift the Pittsburgh Pirates to a 6-2 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals on Saturday.
The Pirates entered the game, having scored only eight runs in their previous six games.
Carmen Mlodzinski (7-6), the third Pirates pitcher, gave up one run and one hit in 3 1/3 innings. Six Pittsburgh pitchers held the Cardinals to just three hits.
Rookie Brycen Mautz (0-1) took the loss in his MLB debut for St. Louis. He gave up four runs on five hits and a walk in three innings. Mautz struck out eight.
In the fifth, Flores drove a 3-2 slider into the left-field bleachers for a three-run homer, extending Pittsburgh’s advantage to 5-1.
Three consecutive errors in the sixth led to a run for St. Louis. With one out, shortstop Jocob Gonzalez booted two grounders followed by center fielder Oneil Cruz misplaying a routine fly. Pittsburgh also made three errors in Friday’s game.
The Pirates went up 2-1 in the fourth. Jake Mangum singled to left but rookie Joshua Baez misplayed it and then didn’t hustle after it. Mangum raced to third and was ruled out before the call was challenged and overturned. Mautz then gave up a run-scoring single to Gonzalez.
Baez hit his first home run at Busch Stadium in the third inning, sending an 0-1 slider from reliever Evan Sisk into the left-field seats. Baez made history when homered in each of his first three major league at-bats on Aug. 15 in Chicago.
Lowe homered in the first inning with one out.
Before the game, the Cardinals designated reliever Caleb Ferguson for assignment and recalled Mautz.