Matt Carpenter beat the Pittsburgh Pirates and the rain.
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Pittsburgh Pirates’ Jung Ho Kang celebrates as he arrives at home after hitting a two-run home run during the sixth inning of a baseball game against the St. Louis Cardinals, Friday, May 6, 2016, in St. Louis.
Pirates third baseman David Freese, a St. Louis native who played a key role in the Cardinals’ 2011 World Series championship, was given a standing ovation when he pinch-hit in the ninth inning. Martinez then fell behind 1-0 to Josh Harrison when Cardinals infielders met at the mound and the trainer came out onto the field.
The “next gear” kicked in after a game delay, when plate umpire Dana DeMuth left the game at the beginning of the third inning to be evaluated for a potential head injury.
If Marte’s drive had not bounced over the left-field fence, Gregory Polanco would have had a chance to score. Wainwright, who has struggled in the first part of the season with a 6.30 ERA, said his curveball started to click when he struck out Francisco Cervelli after the first four Pirates reached in the first.
Rookie Jeremy Hazelbaker hit his sixth homer for St. Louis.
“It’s awesome, being able to win the game like that, especially the way it kind of played out beforehand”, Carpenter said.
The Pirates won the series and are now 5-1 against the Cardinals this season.
In his previous at-bat, Kang gave Pittsburgh a 3-0 advantage by ambushing a first-pitch fastball from reliever Tyler Lyons for a two-run blast into the St. Louis bullpen. Jaso then doubled, and Andrew McCutchen singled Joyce home.
Michael Wacha (2-3) lost his third consecutive decision, allowing four runs on six hits and two walks in six innings.
Wainwright appeared fully capable of making that lead hold up to the end.
All eight Pirates regulars have wRC+ of at least 100 on the season and of those eight, only Jordy Mercer is not projected to continue to hit at an average to above-average level.
“I hit it, I was like, please, stay fair, stay fair, stay fair”, he said. When you have a big lead like that, just pound the strike zone and force the other team to earn their way back into the game.
Trevor Rosenthal (1-1) got the win despite yielding the tying run in the ninth as St. Louis (16-15) improved to 4-5 on the homestand.
Martinez went 3 1/3 innings, allowing three hits and a run with three walks and two strikeouts. The Pirates have allowed 14 runs in their last three games and six or more runs in six of their last nine games. He issued two walks and struck out six. Tejada’s sacrifice fly three pitches later drew the Cardinals within 3-2.
Carpenter kept everyone from enduring a long rain delay. You never know what’s going to happen.
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The Pittsburgh Pirates have officially activated Jung-ho Kang from the disabled list in time for tonight’s game against the St Louis Cardinals.
