Pirates 0 - 2 Cardinals
Final
  for this game

Adams' blast in 9th lifts Cards past Pirates

Jul 8, 2014 - 5:56 AM St. Louis, MO (SportsNetwork.com) - Matt Adams had two of St. Louis' three hits, including a walk-off, two-run homer in the bottom of the ninth inning to lift the Cardinals to a 2-0 victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates in the opener of a four-game set.

Matt Carpenter worked a leadoff walk against Justin Wilson (2-1) in the ninth before Adams smacked his two-run shot down the right-field line two batters later to vault the Cardinals past the Pirates for second place in the NL Central.

"Able to get Adams to do something special, we needed that. Great at-bat," Cardinals manager Mike Matheny said.

Pat Neshek (3-0) tossed a 1-2-3 ninth to get the win.

The Pirates loaded the bases with two outs against Sam Freeman in the eighth, but the lefty got pinch-hitter Gregory Polanco to wave at a sweeping slider for strike three the end the threat.

Adam Wainwright, who was attempting to become the first NL pitcher to reach 12 wins, struck out five, allowed seven hits and walked three over seven scoreless innings for the Cardinals, who have won four of their past six games.

Charlie Morton fanned five, surrendered just one hit and walked two over seven scoreless innings for Pittsburgh, which had won six of its last seven tilts coming in.

"He had nasty stuff today," Pirates manager Clint Hurdle said of Morton. "Today was all about the sinker."

The Pirates were 0-for-10 with runners in scoring position and left 12 men on base

Pittsburgh put runners on the corners with one away in the fourth, but Wainwright struck out Pedro Alvarez for the second out. A wild pitch allowed Ike Davis to advance to second, but Wainwright got Jordy Mercer to pop out and keep the game scoreless.

The Cardinals recorded their first hit in the opening frame, but didn't tally another one until the eighth.

Game Notes

The Cardinals finished 0-for-2 with runners in scoring position ... Adams' homer was his 10th of the season ... The start of the game was delayed 47 minutes due to rain before there was another stoppage for 11 minutes.






Related News