Heading into Saturday’s game, the hope was that the Pittsburgh Pirates would finally be able to generate some more runs. After all, they had a combined eight in their last four games, so figuring some sort of improvement made sense. Granted, that didn’t exactly change against the St. Louis Cardinals, but thanks to some solid pitching, the Bucs still topped the visiting Redbirds, 2-0 at PNC Park.
Pittsburgh collected seven hits, but most importantly held St. Louis to five. A.J. Burnett got the start and was masterful, lasting seven innings, striking out seven and surrendering a mere two walks and three hits. Joel Hanrahan would later come on and notch the save.
Meanwhile, the Pirates’ bats did most of their work in the fourth and sixth innings. In the fourth, Andrew McCutchen scored on a single from third baseman Pedro Alvarez., and in the sixth, Alvarez again singled, scoring McCutchen.
The rubber-match is tomorrow at 1:35 p.m. EST.
For more news and analysis related to the Pittsburgh Pirates, check out Bucs Dugout. Stay tuned to SB Nation Pittsburgh for more updates.