Pittsburgh Pirates Throwaways & Takeaways- Cardinals use the long ball to defeat the Pirates

The Pittsburgh Pirates were defeated 9-7 in the second game of a three-game series at PNC Park. Here are the takeaways and throwaways from the contest.

Takeaways

• Mercer, Mercer, Me- Shortstop Jordy Mercer continued his eight-game hitting streak with a single in the bottom of the third inning, but it was a two-run double in the fifth that put the Pirates in the lead for the first time in the game.
• The Return of King Kang- Jung Ho Kang. in his first game off the disabled list blasted a solo home run in to the left field bleachers in the bottom of the fourth inning. Kang followed the home run up with an RBI single in the fifth inning. Kang also hit a solo shot to right-center in the bottom of the ninth. Tonight was Kang’s 13th multi-hit game on the season.
• Forcing the Cards to use the bullpen- In a game where the Pirates spotted the Cardinals five runs in the first inning, the offense forced the Cardinals to go to their bullpen early and often. The Pirates put two on the board against starter Luke Weaver, but scorched the Cardinals bullpen for four runs over their five innings of work.

Throwaways

• Defensive mistakes- In the first inning, with runners on first and third and no outs, John Jaso elected to look the runner back to third instead of getting two outs. Had he gotten the double play or even one out, Yadier Molina‘s home run would not have done the same amount of damage.
• Giving up the long ball- Yadier Molina hit an opposite-field grand slam in the first inning while Matt Adams knocked a ball into the river on a hop in the third inning to pin five runs on starting pitcher Ryan Vogelsong. Closer Tony Watson gave up a game-tying home run in the ninth inning to Matt Carpenter as well as home runs to Randal Grichuk and Jhonny Peralta.
• Unable to sustain offense- The Pirates scored six runs in the first five innings with four coming in the bottom of the fifth. Beyond the fifth inning, the Pirates managed only two base runners the rest of the game with Andrew McCutchen singling and Matt Joyce walking.

W – Mike Mayers (1-1)

L – Tony Watson (2-4)

S – Seung Hwan Oh (16)

Line of the Night

Tonight we will focus on the number 1,214.

In the ninth inning, closer Tony Watson gave up three monster home runs which allowed the Cardinals to end the inning with a 9-6 lead after beginning the inning down 6-5. The combined footage of the home runs Watson gave up was an impressive 1,214 feet.

Player Of The Game

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Up Next

The Pirates take on the Cardinals looking to avoid getting swept for the third series in a row Wednesday night at 7:05PM at PNC Park. On the mound against the Pirates will be Mike Leake who brings in a 9-9 record with a 4.56 ERA to the match-up. Jameson Taillon takes the mound for the Pirates sporting a 3-4 record and 3.25 ERA in 14 games for the Pirates. Following the series against St. Louis, Pittsburgh welcomes Cincinnati to PNC Park for a four-game weekend series beginning Thursday.