Jul 6, 2016; St. Louis, MO, USA; Pittsburgh Pirates third baseman Jung Ho Kang (27) hits a two run double off of St. Louis Cardinals relief pitcher Jonathan Broxton (not pictured) during the seventh inning at Busch Stadium. Photo Credit: Jeff Curry-USA TODAY Sports
ST. LOUIS — By establishing a season-high winning streak, the Pittsburgh Pirates also climbed a notch in the National League Central standings.
Jung Ho Kang’s two-run double put Pittsburgh ahead to stay in the top of the seventh inning Wednesday night as it wiped out a 5-1 deficit to dump the St. Louis Cardinals 7-5 at Busch Stadium.
Kang’s hit scored David Freese and Andrew McCutchen, who walked and singled, respectively, against reliever Jonathan Broxton (1-1). Kang capped the scoring later in the inning when St. Louis shortstop Aledmys Diaz booted Josh Harrison’s two-out grounder for an error.
Reliever A.J. Schugel (2-2) worked a clean sixth inning for the win as the Pirates (44-41) captured their seventh straight win. Closer Mark Melancon earned his 26th save, finishing off a second straight night of five scoreless innings for a Pittsburgh bullpen that has allowed only one run in its last 45 1/3 innings, dating back to June 24.
The Cardinals (43-41) dropped to 18-26 at home, where they have lost 10 straight games against teams with winning records, dating back to June 14. They also fell to third place in the division.
Neither starter was involved in the decision. The Pirates’ Jeff Locke gave up five runs off eight hits and a walk over four innings, fanning three. St. Louis’ Jaime Garcia pitched five-plus innings, allowing four hits and four runs with three walks and six strikeouts.
Garcia was chased in the sixth after walking the inning’s first two hitters. Harrison and Sean Rodriguez cashed those free passes in with RBI singles.
Pittsburgh started the scoring when Freese launched a 428-foot solo homer to left-center field as the game’s second batter.
That lead held up until the bottom of the third. One batter after St. Louis lost All-Star second baseman Matt Carpenter with a right oblique injury, Diaz cracked a 424-foot solo shot to left-center that tied the score.
The Cardinals then bunched six singles and a sacrifice fly by starting pitcher Jaime Garcia into a four-run fourth. Jedd Gyorko’s RBI hit broke a 1-1 tie, Garcia’s fly ball made it 3-1, Kolten Wong bunted for a two-out hit that scored a run and Diaz capped the rally with a run-scoring single up the middle.
Sean Rodriguez cut the Pirates’ deficit to 5-2 with his seventh homer, a solo shot on the first pitch of the fifth.
NOTES: Pittsburgh is expected to call up RHP Tyler Glasnow, considered by some as the top prospect in all of minor league baseball, from Triple-A Indianapolis to start Thursday. The Pirates recalled LHP Kyle Lobstein from Indianapolis, sending LHP Steven Brault, Tuesday night’s starter, to Indy. … St. Louis placed C Brayan Pena (left knee inflammation) on the 15-day DL Wednesday and purchased C Alberto Rosario from Triple-A Memphis. … Cardinals 3B Jhonny Peralta (left thumb) wasn’t in the lineup Wednesday after leaving Tuesday night’s game after three innings.
