Daily Rant: Pirates Shut Out Cardinals

Tuesday night was not a good one for the St. Louis Cardinals.  James McDonald returned to form, allowing just two hits over his 7 innings of work.  Jake Westbrook, on the other hand, had his ERA pushed to the brink of 4.  The shutout was certainly a step in the wrong direction as the Redbirds look to make a push for the post season.

Box Score:

Behind the Box Score:  After a 3-up, 3-down inning for the St. Louis Cardinals in the 1st, the Pittsburgh Pirates wasted no time getting on the board.  In the bottom of the first, Garrett Jones hit a sac fly, scoring Jose Tabata.

After 2 quick Cardinal outs in the 2nd, Yadier Molina got the Redbirds’ first hit, but David Freese struck out to end any possible threat.

In the bottom of the inning, Josh Harrison was thrown out at home by Carlos Beltran on a wonderful throw.  Yadier Molina paid the price on the collision though, and was forced to leave the game.

Pedro Alvarez hit the first of 2 homeruns on the night in the third, to make it 3-0.  He made it 4-0 on his 20th double of the year, scoring Andrew McCutchen.  By the end of the frame it was 7-0.  The Pittsburgh Pirates added two more runs on an Alvarez homer, and a Travis Snider triple, and that was that.  What hurts worst is that the Redbirds lost ground to both the Pirates and the Cincinnati Reds, as Johnny Cueto won his MLB-best 17th game on the year.

John Jay, Yadier Molina, Tony Cruz, David Freese, and Brandon Dickson were the only St. Louis Cardinals with hits.

Quick Look At The Standings:  With Cueto’s win and a loss to the Pirates, the St. Louis Cardinals lost doubly last night.  Their MLB best run differential suffered a bit of a hit as well.

Let’s hope that they return to their winning ways tonight as Joe Kelly returns to the starting rotation.  Kelly gets a chance to take the ball again as a starter because of Lance Lynn‘s recent struggles.  He has been fantastic to say the least, and on the other side in the all-important rubber game is Wandy Rodriguez.  Wandy has struggled since his trade from the Houston Astros, going 1-4 with a 4.86 ERA.

Let’s get back to those winning ways tonight!  Cardinal Nation, root on your Redbirds at 6:05 PM Central on ESPN; or if you’re fortunate enough, at the great PNC Park.