St. Louis Cardinals shaky in Saturday loss

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5. 33. 7. 4. Final

St. Louis Cardinals fall to Pittsburgh Pirates

The St. Louis Cardinals were a part of history Saturday night, but it wasn’t the history they wanted to make.

Instead of recording their second win in a row over the Pittsburgh Pirates, the Cardinals were the victim of a 4-5-4 triple play, the first time in Major League Baseball history this has been recorded.

It was that kind of night for St. Louis, which lost 7-5 to the Pirates and saw the series even at a game apiece.

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The Cardinals were threatening in the second inning with runners on first and second when Pirates second baseman Neil Walker leaped and caught a line drive off the bat of Yadier Molina. Walker threw to third baseman Jung-Ho Kang to get Jhonny Peralta for the second out, and Kang threw back to Walker for the third out as Walker forced Jason Heyward.

Prior to Saturday, the last time the Cardinals hit into a triple play was Aug. 10, 2003.

Pittsburgh took a 3-0 lead in the bottom of the second, but the Cardinals responded with a five-run fourth inning. The key blasts came from Heyward and Molina, who each doubled. However, Pittsburgh scored once in the fifth and three times in the sixth to go ahead to stay.

For the second outing in a row, Carlos Martinez had a shaky outing. He surrendered seven earned runs in 5-1/3 innings of work but still had seven strikeouts.

Matt Holliday had three hits in a losing effort as St. Louis dropped to 22-8 overall.

Fortune smiled on the Cardinals as the Milwaukee Brewers downed the Chicago Cubs 12-4, and the Cincinnati Reds were on the way to a doubleheader split with the Chicago White Sox.

What’s up next?

The teams conclude their series on Sunday at 1:35 p.m. Jeff Locke has a 2-2 record and 3.76 ERA against the Cardinals for his career. Tyler Lyons pitches for St. Louis, seeking his first victory since 2013.