7 standout performers in Cardinals series win over Pirates

It wasn’t the prettiest series for the Cardinals, but they ground out a pretty important series win over the pesky Pirates. 

For most of the Cardinals‘ three-game series against the Pirates, the Cardinals were down. But the team found a way with some standout performances to get a series victory over the Pirates as they head into a week where they will take on a couple of NL Central opponents, the Brewers and the Reds.

The Cardinals lost to the Pirates Friday 8-2, and they defeated the Pirates on Saturday 7-5 and Sunday 4-3.

Miles Mikolas had a terrible outing on Friday, going five innings, giving up eight hits, two walks, and four earned runs, including a home run to Ben Gamel. He did strike out 8 batters. Zack Thompson pitched 1.1 innings, giving up two hits and striking out one. Jake Woodford pitched 1.2 innings, giving up five hits, one walk, and four earned runs. He did strike out two batters.

Jack Flaherty made his start Saturday, going five innings, giving up six hits and four walks. He gave up three earned runs, including two home runs to Rodolfo Castro and Jack Suwinski. Andre Pallante pitched an inning, giving up a hit and striking out one batter while inducing four swings and misses. Jojo Romero pitched an inning, giving up a home run to Oneil Cruz. He generated three swings and misses. Giovanny Gallegos earned his third win of the season, pitching a clean eighth inning. Ryan Helsley earned his 15h save, pitching the ninth inning, giving up two hits and an earned run. He induced three swings and misses. He hit a max velocity of 102.1 mph.

Jose Quintana pitched 5.2 innings in a start against his former team on Sunday. He gave up four hits, a walk, and one earned run while striking out four batters and inducing eight swings and misses. This was probably his strongest start since joining the Cardinals, and it came at a great time.

Jordan Hicks pitched 1.1 innings, giving up a hit and a home run to Suwinski. He did strike out one while inducing five swings and misses. He hit a max velocity of 102 mph. Jojo Romero pitched a third of an inning, giving up a walk and a hit while striking out one while inducing three swings and misses. Chris Stratton got his eighth win against his former team, pitching a clean two-thirds of an inning.

Helsley earned his 16th save, pitching the ninth. He struck out one batter while giving up a home run to Greg Allen.

The Cardinals are now 83-58 on the season with an eight-game lead over the Brewers. With a day off Monday, the Cardinals will have a crucial two-game set against the Brewers beginning Tuesday. The Cardinals then welcome the Reds for five games in four days. This is a big week for the Cardinals.

Let’s take a look at the standouts from this series.