Pirates rally to stun St. Louis
Associated Press
PITTSBURGH
Pedro Ciriaco hit a tiebreaking double to cap a three-run rally in the eighth inning and the Pittsburgh Pirates stunned St. Louis 6-5 on Monday night, damaging the Cardinals’ playoff chances.
Albert Pujols hit his NL-leading 35th homer and drove in three runs for St. Louis, which had won five in a row to climb within 41/2 games of Atlanta for the NL wild card. The Cardinals also began the day six games behind first-place Milwaukee in the NL Central.
St. Louis built a 4-3 lead against fourth-place Pittsburgh but lost for the seventh time this season when leading after seven innings.
Ryan Doumit, back in the lineup a day after he sustained a chest bruise, tied it at 4 in the eighth with an RBI double off Marc Rzepczynski (0-2). With the bases loaded and two outs, the little-used and light-hitting Ciriaco hit a liner down the right-field line off Fernando Salas for a two-run double and a 6-4 lead.
Ciriaco had 23 career at-bats over two seasons coming into the game and had struck out on three pitches in the seventh.
Joel Hanrahan gave up a run in the ninth but held on for his 37th save, snapping Pittsburgh’s three-game losing streak. With runners at second and third, the All-Star closer struck out pinch-hitter Corey Patterson to end it with Pujols on deck.
Neil Walker went 3 for 4 with an RBI and Alex Presley had two hits and scored two runs for the Pirates, two defeats shy of guaranteeing a 19th straight losing season.
Jason Grilli (2-1) worked a perfect eighth for the win.
Pujols’ home run off Brad Lincoln after Jon Jay led off the sixth with a single gave the Cardinals their only lead. It was the 443rd homer of his career, moving him into sole possession of 37th place.