Cardinals break away late to split series with Pirates

Jordan Walker hit a two-run home run to power the St. Louis Cardinals past the visiting Pittsburgh Pirates 4-1 Thursday afternoon.

Thomas Saggese went 2-for-3 with an RBI and a run as the Cardinals earned a split of the four-game series.

Cardinals starter Miles Mikolas allowed one run on four hits in five innings. He struck out five batters and walked one.

Reliever Kyle Leahy (4-1) worked two scoreless innings to earn the victory. Riley O'Brien handled the Pirates in the eighth inning and JoJo Romero closed out the ninth inning for his fifth save.

Tommy Pham hit a homer for the Pirates, who suffered just their second loss in eight games.

Pirates starter Braxton Ashcraft allowed one run on four hits in 5 2/3 innings. He struck out five and walked one. Losing pitcher Yohan Ramirez (1-2) allowed three runs while retiring only two batters.

The Pirates moved ahead 1-0 in the first inning when Pham crushed a 440-foot homer over the left field bullpen with one out.

Mikolas hit Bryan Reynolds with a pitch, then Nick Gonzales hit a double. But Mikolas retired the next two batters to leave the runners in scoring position.

Pittsburgh threatened again in the second inning. Jack Suwinski hit a leadoff single, Liover Peguero walked and Isiah Kiner-Falefa bunted the runners over. Mikolas escaped again by retiring the next two batters.

The Cardinals tied the game 1-1 in the third inning. Lars Nootbaar hit a single and scored on Ivan Herrera's double. The Pirates avoided further damage by catching Herrera in a rundown between second and third.

The Cardinals moved ahead 4-1 in the seventh inning. Masyn Winn walked, Saggese hit an RBI double and Walker launched his homer to center field, his fifth of the year.

--Field Level Media