St. Louis Cardinals beat Pittsburgh Pirates 7-2, tied for division lead

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The St. Louis Cardinals were up and at it early this afternoon with a 3-run first inning before winning 7-2 over the Pittsburgh Pirates.
Sep 1, 2013; Pittsburgh, PA, USA; St. Louis Cardinals starting pitcher Joe Kelly (58) delivers a pitch against the Pittsburgh Pirates during the first inning at PNC Park. Image Credit: Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports
Joe Kelly pitched 6 solid innings and moves to 7-3 this season. The California native allowed four hits, one run, walked two, and struck out five batters. He left Pittsburgh with a 2.82 ERA on the season. The Cardinals have turned to him three times now to halt losing streaks during the second half of the season. Since the start of July, Kelly has a 2.16 ERA in 10 starts, nine of which were Cardinals wins

Pitching in relief of Kelly were Seth Maness, Trevor Rosenthal, and Edward Mujica. Maness pitched the seventh inning and struck out two batters. Rosenthal struck out all three batters he faced in the eighth inning. Mujica didn’t have his best stuck when he entered to start the ninth inning in a non-save situation. The Cardinals closer allowed two hits and one run.

Matt Carpenter, Shane Robinson, Allen Craig, and Yadier Molina all had 2-hit games for the Cardinals. Allen Craig now owns a .453 batting average with runners in scoring position. Matt Holliday and David Freese both knocked in two runs. Carpenter and Craig both scored twice.

Pete Kozma had an 0 for 4 day at the plate and lowered his batting average to .212 this season and extending his slump to 33 at bats. The Cardinals shortstop struck out twice today. Since August 19th, the shortstop has yet to get a hit but has scored twice after reaching on a walk. During the entire month of August, Kozma hit .063 after going 3 for 48 at the plate.

This afternoon marked the end of the series at PNC Park. The Cardinals departed with a 3-7 record on the road at PNC. The Cardinals host Pittsburgh for a 3 game series this month.

The Cardinals announced that Michael Wacha will start Tuesday against the Cincinnati Reds. Adam Wainwright takes the mound tomorrow afternoon.