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Pirates come up clutch in ninth, beat Cardinals

By Alex Butler
Pittsburgh Pirates stars Corey Dickerson (12), Starling Marte (hidden) and Brian Reynolds (R) helped their squad snap a four-game losing streak by beating the St. Louis Cardinals Tuesday in St. Louis. Photo by Bill Greenblatt/UPI
Pittsburgh Pirates stars Corey Dickerson (12), Starling Marte (hidden) and Brian Reynolds (R) helped their squad snap a four-game losing streak by beating the St. Louis Cardinals Tuesday in St. Louis. Photo by Bill Greenblatt/UPI | License Photo

July 17 (UPI) -- The Pittsburgh Pirates were clutch in the ninth inning, posting two runs to beat the St. Louis Cardinals 3-1 Tuesday at Busch Stadium in St. Louis.

Pittsburgh entered the top of the final inning with the game tied 1-1. Starling Marte reached first base in the second at-bat after being hit by a pitch. Josh Bell moved Marte to third base with a single off Cardinals reliever Carlos Martinez.

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Then Colin Moran stepped into the box. The Pirates third baseman worked a 2-2 count against the right-handed pitcher. He sent Martinez's fifth offering of the exchange to second baseman Kolten Wong. Wong had to dive to make the play, but didn't come up clean with the ball. Moran beat his throw to first base, allowing Marte to score the go-ahead run.

"It's always good just to get the first one out of the break," Moran told reporters, according to MLB.com. "We've shown that once we get rolling, we can run off some wins with the best of them."

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Corey Dickerson moved Bell to third base by taking a walk in the next at-bat. Kevin Newman scored Bell by grounding into a force out in the next exchange with Martinez.

Pirates reliever Felipe Vazquez earned the save in the bottom of the inning by getting the Cardinals out in order, including two strikeouts.

Kevin Newman plated the first run of the game, scoring Dickerson on a fifth inning RBI single. The Cardinals tied the game on a Jack Flaherty RBI double in the bottom of the fifth frame,

Dario Agrazal did not earn the win for Pittsburgh, despite allowing just five hits and one run in six innings during his start. No Pirates players recorded multiple hits in the win, as each team recorded just five hits in the National League Central clash. Tyler O'Neill was 2-for-4 for the Cardinals.

The Cardinals and Pirates close out the series at 1:15 p.m. EDT Wednesday in St. Louis.

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