The St. Louis Cardinals (5-6) earned their first road win of the season Tuesday night, beating out the Pittsburgh Pirates (4-8) 5-3 to even the series. Behind a strong outing from Sonny Gray and clutch hitting throughout the lineup, the Birds outplayed the Buccos and 2024 NL Rookie of the Year Paul Skenes.
Starting Pitchers STL: Sonny Gray, PIT: Paul Skenes
Scoring Summary
(1st-4th):
The game remained quiet through the first two innings, with the only notable action being a single by Pittsburgh’s Enmanuel Valdez.
In the third, the Cardinals broke through as Pedro Pagés and Masyn Winn reached on singles, and Victor Scott II cleared them with a triple to center. Brendan Donovan followed with an RBI single, giving St. Louis a 3-0 lead.
VS2 with the RBI triple! pic.twitter.com/AMjTxKaoCu
— St. Louis Cardinals (@Cardinals) April 8, 2025
Pittsburgh responded in the fourth with a solo home run from Bryan Reynolds, cutting the deficit to 3–1.
(6th-8th):
The Cardinals answered again in the sixth as Donovan doubled, Nolan Arenado walked, and Alec Burleson drove in a run with a single. A groundout by Pagés added another, extending the lead to 5–1. Steven Matz came on in relief and tossed a 1-2-3 inning.
The hit parade marches on! pic.twitter.com/UQCEGZxHef
— St. Louis Cardinals (@Cardinals) April 9, 2025
In the seventh, Victor Scott II ripped a hustle double to left but was left stranded as the Cardinals couldn’t capitalize. Kyle Leahy took over on the mound for St. Louis and was flawless, retiring all five batters he faced. The eighth inning saw both sides go down in order.
9th:
The Pirates threatened in the ninth. Alexander Canario singled and Reynolds doubled, setting the stage for an RBI groundout by Andrew McCutchen and an RBI double by Joey Bart to make it 5-3. Jordan Walker’s running catch on a potential double by Tommy Pham sealed the win.
Notable Stats & Notes
Brendan Donovan extended his hitting streak and has five hits over the past two nights, tying for the MLB lead with 17 overall.
The Cardinals scored as many runs in the third inning as they had in all three games against Skenes last season. The five runs surrendered by Skenes were the most he’s allowed in an MLB game.
St. Louis has scored four or more runs in each of its 11 games this season.
Cardinals ML (+114) cashed, and the total went OVER 6.5 (-118). The over continues to be a trend in Cardinals games, with the team consistently coming through with clutch hits—while also surrendering their fair share on the other end. It has cashed in 9 out of 11 games so far this season.
On Deck
The series wraps up Wednesday at 11:35 a.m. CT with Erick Fedde starting for the Cardinals and Mitch Keller taking the mound for the Pirates.