Connor Joe and Rowdy Tellez drove in two runs each as the Pittsburgh Pirates shut out the visiting St. Louis Cardinals 5-0 on Wednesday to win their three-game series.
The Pirates have won four of six games coming out of the All-Star break to move within one game in the Cardinals in the National League wild-card race.
Pittsburgh starting pitcher Martin Perez (2-5) walked five batters, but the left-hander held the Cardinals to four hits in six innings. He struck out two.
Carmen Mlodzinski, Colin Holderman and Aroldis Chapman pitched an inning each to complete the shutout.
In two starts against St. Louis this season, Perez has allowed just one run in 13 1/3 innings.
Cardinals starting pitcher Matthew Liberatore (2-3) allowed five runs on four hits and three walks in three innings. He struck out three.
St. Louis threatened in the second inning when Dylan Carlson drew a two-out walk and raced to third on Lars Nootbaar’s single. But their attempt to steal a run failed when Nootbaar broke from first base and Carlson was caught in a rundown between third and home.
Pittsburgh exploited Liberatore’s wildness to take a 4-0 lead in the bottom of the inning. After Liberatore hit leadoff batter Ke’Bryan Hayes with a pitch, Joshua Palacios followed with a single.
Tellez hit a one-out RBI single, then Liberatore walked Michael A. Taylor and Andrew McCutchen to force in another run. Joe smacked a two-run double off the glove of the diving Carlson in left-center field to cap the outburst.
Tellez’s 447-foot homer out of PNC Park in the fourth inning pushed Pittsburgh’s lead to 5-0 and ended Liberatore’s day.
Perez escaped a bases-loaded jam in the fifth inning. After Pedro Pages and Masyn Winn hit two-out singles and Alec Burleson walked, Willson Contreras grounded into an inning-ending forceout.
St. Louis threatened again in the seventh inning against Mlodzinski. With one out, Pages walked and Winn hit a single.
The runners advanced on a groundout, but Contreras lined out to leave them in scoring position.
–Field Level Media
