Pittsburgh Pirates Ride Historic 7th Inning to Victory Over the Cardinals

Following a historic 7th inning rally the Pittsburgh Pirates took another step toward ending the postseason hopes of the St. Louis Cardinals

Baseball, man, it’s the best. You never know what you are going to see during a night out at the ballpark. Thursday night 8,618 fans that took in the first game of a four-game series between the Pittsburgh Pirates and St. Louis Cardinals at PNC Park witnessed a historic 7th inning from the Bucs.

8 runs in the 7th inning vaulted the Pittsburgh Pirates to an 11-7 victory on Thursday night. With the win the Pirates are now 5-2 in their last 7 games, this includes being 3-1 against the Cardinals who are now 4.5 games out in the NL Wild Card chase. With the win the Pirates are now 47-81 on the season and took another step toward ending the postseason hopes of the Cardinals.

Another mixed bag from Mitch Keller

Coming off of one of the best starts of his MLB career Mitch Keller was looking to put together another strong start. Especially with this being the second time he had faced the Cardinals in the last week.

Unfortunately for the Pittsburgh Pirates and Keller, he failed to follow up that start with another strong start. Keller allowed a 2-run home run to Nolane Arenado in the 1st inning and then allowed 3 more runs in 2nd inning. The Cardinals then scored 2 more off of Keller in the 3rd.

While Keller did pitch a scoreless 4th and 5th inning, as well as recording an out in the 6th before being pulled, his final line was ugly. Keller allowed 7 earned runs on 6 hits, 3 walks, 2 home runs and 2 strikeouts in 5.1 innings pitched.

On the season Keller now owns a 6.75 ERA, 4.88 FIP and  1.25 HR/9 in 72 innings pitched across 17 starts. It will be interesting to see what happens with Keller between now and Opening Day 2022. Will he open the season at Triple-A? In the Pirate starting rotation? In another organization? All of those seem possible for the former top-50 prospect.

Pirates mount a 7th inning rally for the ages

In the 7th inning the Pittsburgh Pirates put together one of the most impressive innings you will ever see. It’s not just that the Pirates scored 8 runs, but they scored their 8 runs without making an out. This makes them the first team in MLB to do that this season.

Additionally, St. Louis lefty Genesis Cabrera became the first Cardinal pitcher since 1912 to allow 6 runs in an inning without recording an out. Furthermore, it was the first time since 2009 that the Pirates scored 8 runs in an inning before recording an out, as well as being the first time since May 2017 the Pirates recorded 6 hits with runners in scoring position in the 7th inning.

The inning started when Ke’Bryan Hayes hit a ball that sliced away from a diving Harrison Bader for a double and Ben Gamel walked. Following the Gamel walk, veteran lefty Andrew Miller was lifted for the younger, harder throwing lefty Genesis Cabrera who went on to have an all-time bad outing.

Michael Chavis singled off f Cabrera to start the inning and the bases were loaded with no one out. Bryan Reynolds then hit a 2-run ground ball single to score a pair, cutting the Cardinal lead to 7-5. With the Pittsburgh Pirates just getting started, Colin Moran, who earlier in the night hit a 2-run home run, picked up a softly hit single to right field to once again load the bases. Wilmer Difo then singled home a pair, tying the game at 7.

The Gregory Polanco redemption tour then kicked into high gear with a double deep into left field. Polanco’s 3rd hit of the night scored a pair and gave the Pirates a 9-7 lead. Yoshi Tsutsugo then recorded his 3rd pinch hit home run as a Pirate, giving the Bucs an 11-7 lead.

Ponce De Leon was then summoned to replace Cabrera. After retiring the first two batters he faced he walked Gamel and allowed a hit to Chavis before finally recording the final out of a long 7th inning for the Red Birds.

Plenty of big offensive nights

As is usually the case when a team scores 11 runs plenty of hitters had a big night at the plate for the Pittsburgh Pirates. Moran had a 4 hit night including his 7th home run of the season. Chavis also recorded 4 hits, including a double.

Difo and Polanco each had a 3 hit night, and dumped the Powerade cooler on Chavis during his postgame interview. Gamel was held hitless, but drew 3 walks. Hayes had a double in his two trips to the plate and Tsutsugo hit a home run in his lone trip to the plate.

It was a fun night at the plate for the Pittsburgh Pirates. A night at the plate that this group of Pittsburgh Pirates will not forget any time soon.

Great night from the bullpen

Kyle Keller replaced Mitch Keller and got the final two outs of the 6th inning. Chad Kuhl then continued to impress out of the bullpen. Kuhl retired 3 of the 4 batters he faced on his way to pitching a scoreless 7th inning.

Chris Stratton then took the mound in the 8th inning looking to protect the newly found Pirate lead. Stratton faced a trio of batters and struck each of them out. David Bednar then slammed the door shut with a strikeout in a 1-2-3 9th inning.

Overall the Pirate bullpen pitched 3.2 scoreless innings of work. Pirate relievers did not walk a batter, allowed just a single hit and struck out 4. Without the outstanding work of the bullpen the Pirates never would have overcome their 7-1 deficit on Thursday night.

What’s next?

Lefty Dillon Peters (1.86 ERA, 3.17 FIP) will make his 3rd Pirate start and look to keep the recent success against the Cardinals rolling on Friday night while the Cardinals plan to send fellow lefty, and ex-Bucco, J.A. Happ (5.88 ERA, 5.26 FIP) to the mound. First pitch from PNC Park is scheduled for 7:05 PM ET.