Frazier HR, 3 hits, Pirates top Cards 6-4 to end 6-game skid
Adam Frazier is congratulated by his Pirates teammates after hitting a second-inning, two-run homer Saturday night against the Cardinals.
Pirates closer Felipe Rivero and catcher Elias Diaz celebrate Saturday after defeating the Cardinals at PNC Park.
PITTSBURGH – Adam Frazier homered, doubled and singled as the Pittsburgh Pirates beat the St. Louis Cardinals 6-4 Saturday to end a six-game losing streak.
Frazier hit a two-run homer in the second and doubled off the wall the next inning. Starling Marte and pinch-hitter Jose Osuna also homered for Pittsburgh.
The Cardinals scored 11 runs in each of their two wins to start this series. Paul DeJong hit a two-run homer in the eighth and Jose Martinez homered in the ninth.
Chad Kuhl (6-8) responded well following a rain delay that lasted nearly two hours, giving up one run and three hits in five innings. Felipe Rivero got his 13th save.
Michael Wacha (9-6) was tagged for five runs and seven hits in four innings.
Wacha retired the side in order in the first, but the Pirates scored five times in the second. A leadoff walk set up Frazier’s home run, and Kuhl later doubled before Marte connected.
Cardinals: RHP Josh Lucas, 26, came in to start the fifth inning in relief of Wacha. He worked around a pair of singles in his first inning and gave up Osuna’s homer the next inning. St. Louis recalled Lucas, who allowed one run on four hits with two strikeouts in two innings, from Triple-A Memphis and optioned RHP Mike Mayers on Friday.
Pirates: RHP Dovydas Neverauskas was recalled from Triple-A Indianapolis while LHP Steven Brault was optioned to Indianapolis. He pitched a perfect fifth inning with one strikeout Saturday. Brault was recalled on Friday, after LHP Wade LeBlanc was placed on the 10-day disabled list with a left quad strain.
Cardinals: RHP Mike Leake (7-11, 3.88) will try to bounce back from a poor start when he takes the mound against the Pirates in the 2017 MLB Little League Classic at Williamsport, Pennsylvania, on Sunday night. He surrendered eight runs on nine hits in 4 1/3 innings against the Boston Red Sox last time out.
Pirates: RHP Ivan Nova (10-10, 3.77) will look to build off his last start when he faces the Cardinals. He took the loss his last time out, but allowed just one earned run in six innings against Milwaukee.