Pirates 5, Cards 2

The Pittsburgh Pirates defeated the St. Louis Cardinals on Tuesday night by a score of 5-2. The game was scoreless until the Bottom of the 4th when Clint Barmas beat out a potential inning ending double play ball, scoring Neil Walker. The Pirates increased their lead in the 5th with Josh Harrison's 12th homerun of the season. The game remained that way until the Top of the 7th. The Cards cut the lead in half on a sac fly by John Jay, and tied the game on a single by pinch hitter Randall Grichuk. The Pirates would take the lead in the Bottom of the 8th on a pinch hit, 3 run homerun by Ike Davis. Mark Melancon shut the door in the 9th, and the Pirates moved to 68-64. Gerrit Cole pitched 6 solid innings of 1 run ball for his 8th win of the season, and reliever Seth Maness took the loss. Melancon picked up his 23rd save.

Cards 3, Pirates 2

The Pittsburgh Pirates fell to the St. Louis Cardinals on Monday by a score of 3-2. The Pirates struck first in the Bottom of the 2nd on a solo homerun by Pedro Alvarez. That lead would hold until the 7th when John Jay singled home Tony Cruz to tie the game. The Cards would pull ahead 1 batter later when Matt Holiday singled home Jay, who had advanced to 2nd on an error by Andrew McCutchen, and Matt Carpenter to make in 3-1 Cardinals. The Pirates would close the gap in the 9th on a solo shot by McCutchen, but it would prove to be too late. John Lackey pitched 7 innings of 1 run ball for his 13th win, and relief pitcher Jared Hughes took the loss to move to 6-4. Francisco Liriano pitched stellar, for Pittsburgh, allowing 1 run over 6 innings. This loss moved the Pirates to 67-64, 6 games behind the first place Brewers and 1.5 games back of a wildcard spot.