Goldschimdt’s slam sends Cards past Pirates

Associated Press

PITTSBURGH

Paul Goldschmidt hit his fifth career grand slam in the top of the 10th and right fielder Jose Martinez threw out the tying run at the plate to help the St. Louis Cardinals beat the reeling Pittsburgh Pirates 6-5 on Monday night.

Goldschmidt took an offering from Clay Holmes (1-1) and sent it to the concourse that runs behind the wall in right-center field as the streaking Cardinals improved to 8-3 since the All-Star break. Goldschmidt’s 19th home run of the season was just enough after St. Louis closer Carlos Martinez nearly let a four-run cushion get away.

Pittsburgh drew within a run in the bottom of the 10th on an RBI single by Josh Bell and a two-run home run by Jung Ho Kang. The Pirates put the tying run at second base with no outs but couldn’t draw even.

Martinez threw out Pittsburgh’s Kevin Newman at home on a sharp single to right by Jacob Stallings for the second out. The call stood after the Pirates challenged and Carlos Martinez retired Adam Frazier on a fly ball to right to collect his ninth save.

Matt Wieters hit his eighth home run for the Cardinals — and fourth this month — and added a sacrifice fly. Chasen Shreve (1-0) picked up his victory since last August by escaping a two-on, two-out jam in the ninth.

Starling Marte had three hits for Pittsburgh. Bell, Colin Moran and Bryan Reynolds all drove in runs but the Pirates left 11 runners on base to fall to 2-8 since a 12-5 surge pulled them within 21/2 games of first in the NL Central at the break.

Pittsburgh’s Trevor Williams looked crisper with a few extra days to prepare for his 14th start thanks to a bout with flu-like symptoms that forced the Pirates to skip his normal turn in the rotation over the weekend. Williams allowed two runs, one earned, in five innings with two walks and tied a season high with seven strikeouts in his most effective outing since returning from a month-long stay on the injured list in May and June due to a strained right side.

St. Louis rookie Daniel Ponce de Leon labored through three innings while battling his command, allowing three hits and four walks while needing 86 pitches to record nine outs.

Still, Ponce de Leon managed to surrender just a single run as Pittsburgh’s listless offense — the Pirates came in averaging just 2.7 runs since the break — failed to take advantage.

KELA SUSPENDED

The Pirates activated reliever Keone Kela from the 60-day injured list then suspended him for two games for an unspecified violation of his contract. Kela went on the injured list on May 6 with right shoulder discomfort. He recently completed a rehab assignment with Triple-A Indianapolis, allowing five runs in 31/3 innings across four appearances with the Indians.

UP NEXT

Cardinals: Dakota Hudson (9-4, 3.57 ERA) is 5-1 in his last six road starts heading into today’s game.

Pirates: Chris Archer (3-6, 5.36) will try to pick up his first win since June 6. Archer has a no-decision in each of his last six starts.