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.

Albert Pujols continues his legendary run for the Cardinals

At 42 years old and in his second decade of play, Pujols is having a mind-blowing season. He is solidifying his legendary status by the game; it is an absolute treat to watch.

He was 3-for-4 Saturday with a run and three RBI. He tied Alex Rodriguez with 696 home runs for his career on Saturday and his 17th home run of the season on a fly to left field off J.T. Brubaker, scoring Tyler O’Neill. The ball traveled 418 feet at 111.2 mph.

In the eighth inning Saturday, Pujols singled on a ground ball to center field, scoring Tommy Edman.

He was 1-for-4 with a run and two RBI on Sunday. Pujols took sole possession of fourth place on the all-time home run list. He knocked his 18th home run and 697th home run of his career on a fly to center field off Chase De Jong, scoring Corey Dickerson.

The home run traveled 403 feet at 105.5 mph.

He had two plate appearances on Friday but was 0-for-2.

Cardinals role players have big series

Lars Nootbaar

He was 1-for-2 Sunday with two walks. He stepped up defensively. Check out these plays:

He entered the game as a pinch runner and took over at right field Saturday. He was also the team’s cheerleader bringing out a real pepper grinder to cheer on his teammates for grinding out their at-bats.

He was 0-for-3 on Friday with a walk and a run scored. He also had a pretty spectacular defensive moment in this game that made you wonder where he came from to start and end the play!

Tyler O’Neill

He was 1-for-4 Sunday with a run and an RBI. He knocked his 14th home run on a fly to center field off Chase De Jong. The home run traveled 410 feet at 106.9 mph.

He was 1-for-4 with a run and a walk on Saturday.

He was 1-for-2 on Friday, with two walks.

Nolan Arenado

He was 1-for-5 with three RBI on Saturday. In the ninth inning of Saturday’s game, Arenado hit a double on a sharp liner to left field, scoring Paul DeJong, Corey Dickerson, and Paul Goldschmidt. He was able to advance to third base.

He was pumped to get that big hit for the team, and it was great to see.

He was 1-for-4 on Friday. He was given the day off Sunday.