Cardinals 2 - 5 Pirates
Final
  for this game

Davis blasts Pirates over Cardinals

Aug 27, 2014 - 3:42 AM Pittsburgh, PA (SportsNetwork.com) - Ike Davis belted a pinch-hit, three-run homer in the eighth inning and the Pittsburgh Pirates took down the St. Louis Cardinals, 5-2, on Tuesday.

Gaby Sanchez and Starling Marte hit back-to-back singles in the bottom of the eighth against Seth Maness (5-3), who was in his firth inning of relief for St. Louis. After Clint Barmes lined to center for the second out in the inning, Davis came on and crushed a no-doubter to right-center to give the Pirates the lead.

Tony Watson (9-1) pitched two innings out of the bullpen for Pittsburgh to earn the win.

Russell Martin had three hits and Josh Harrison added a solo home run for the Pirates, who ended a brief two-game losing skid.

Neither starter factored into the decision. Gerrit Cole struck out nine, allowing two runs on three hits for Pittsburgh, while Lance Lynn labored a little, giving up six hits and walking three in six innings but limiting the Pirates to just a pair of runs.

"I thought he pitched a great ball game," Pirates manager Clint Hurdle said of Cole. "Complete control."

Pittsburgh won the game but may have suffered a few losses in the process. Andrew McCutchen left after the fifth inning with a left rib injury, while Pedro Alvarez departed an inning later after hurting his left foot.

The Pirates plated the game's first run on a fielder's choice in the fourth inning. Neil Walker walked, Martin singled and Marte was hit by a pitch to load the bases with one out for Barmes, who hit a soft dribbler to shortstop. Jhonny Peralta flipped to second to force Marte out, but Kolten Wong's relay to first pulled Matt Adams off the bag as Barmes reached and Walker crossed the plate.

Harrison's solo homer an inning later made it 2-0.

Cole carried a no-hitter into the sixth inning and retired the first two batters he faced before Wong delivered the first hit for the Cardinals, a double down the right field line. Cole responded by fanning Matt Holliday for his ninth strikeout.

With his pitch count at 104 through six, Cole went back out for the seventh inning but surrendered a leadoff double to Adams and single to Peralta before being pulled for Watson. The All-Star reliever allowed both runners to score, as Jon Jay hit a sacrifice fly and pinch-hitter Randal Grichuk blooped an RBI single to center with two outs.

"We would have needed to steal this one," said Cardinals manager Mike Matheny. "I thought we were in a good position to do it but it didn't work."

After Davis' blast made it 5-2, Mark Melancon came on and nailed down his 23rd save of the year.

Game Notes

Davis has three pinch-hit home runs this season, matching Philadelphia's John Mayberry Jr. for the MLB lead ... Davis' homer was Pittsburgh's seventh pinch- hit HR on the year ... Lynn had won three straight starts ... Holliday extended his hit streak to eight games ... Prior to the game, the Cardinals placed outfielder Shane Robinson on the 15-day disabled list and recalled Grichuk from Triple-A Memphis.






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