Pirates Vs. Cardinals: Kevin Correia, Bucs Continue To Keep Runs Off Board, Win 3-1

The Pirates continued a familiar trend today in beating the Cardinals 3-1 – the opposing starter (Chris Carpenter) dominated the Pirates’ starter (Kevin Correia) in the statistics that matter over time (strikeouts, walks), but the Pirates starter got the better results.

Correia piled up seven shutout innings while striking out three and walking two. The Cardinals hit several balls hard, including a couple of deep fly balls, but in another trend for Pirates opponents, none of them went over the fence.

Ryan Doumit knocked in the first run of the game with an RBI double in the fourth. Neil Walker hit a solo homer in the fifth to make it 2-0. In the eighth, Andrew McCutchen and Lyle Overbay hit back-to-back ground-rule doubles to add an insurance run. Yadier Molina doubled home Lance Berkman in the ninth to make it 3-1, but that was all the Cardinals could manage.

By the way, Evan Meek, who was a goat in two of the Pirates’ five previous games, pitched a 1-2-3 inning today, but he didn’t look great doing it, hanging a breaking ball against one of the Cardinals’ weaker hitters (Ryan Theriot) and allowing a liner and a deep fly ball to two good ones (Colby Rasmus and Albert Pujols).

Pirates Vs. Cardinals: Chris Carpenter To Try To Exploit Pirates' Strike-Zone Issues

Kevin Correia faces Chris Carpenter this afternoon at 1:45 (Root Sports, 104.7 FM) as the Pirates finish their three-game set in St. Louis.

Correia began his season with a solid start on Opening Day against the Cubs, striking out three and walking one while allowing two runs in six innings. Carpenter, meanwhile, pitched the Cardinals' Opening Day and threw seven strong innings against the Padres. He isn't exactly the kind of pitcher a team wants to face when dealing with continued issues in controlling the strike zone.

The Pirates are currently 3-2 and will look to head into their home opener tomorrow with a winning record.

No lineups yet, although the Post-Gazette expects Rule 5 pick Josh Rodriguez to make his first big-league start, given that today is a day game that follows a night game.

To follow the game along with fans of your team, check out Bucs Dugout (Pirates) and Viva El Birdos (Cardinals).