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Starting pitcher James McDonald pitched six innings and gave up three runs Friday against the Cardinals in St. Louis.
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Pirates can't hold lead, fall to Cardinals

Tom Gannam/Associated Press

Pirates can't hold lead, fall to Cardinals

ST. LOUIS -- It looked as if the Pirates were attempting to repeat the previous evening's events, when they took the lead in the fourth inning.

Unfortunately, they also repeated the part where the St. Louis Cardinals hit an eighth-inning home run, except this one erased a Pirates lead.

Lance Berkman's two-run shot in the eighth off Jose Veras gave the Cardinals a 5-4 win Friday night against the Pirates at Busch Stadium.

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The Pirates pitchers kept the Howitzers of the Cardinals lineup -- Berkman, Albert Pujols and Matt Holliday -- without a hit until the eighth. Veras walked Holliday, and Berkman followed by hitting the first pitch he saw 399 feet into the Cardinals bullpen.

Berkman's 30th home run gave him six seasons of 30 or more home runs in his career.

The Pirates took a 4-3 lead in the fourth on Jose Tabata's RBI double. Michael McKenry hit an RBI double in the fourth Thursday night that also put the Pirates ahead, 4-3, but the Cardinals scored five unanswered runs and won, 8-4.


Today

Game: Pirates vs. Cardinals, 4:10 p.m., Busch Stadium, St. Louis.

TV, radio: WPGH, WPGB-FM (104.7).

Pitching: RHP Brad Lincoln (0-0, 4.58) vs. RHP Chris Carpenter (8-8, 3.57).

Key matchup: Carpenter vs. Andrew McCutchen, who is 7 for 21 with a home run against him in his career.

Hidden stat: Carpenter struck out 10 Aug. 16 against the Pirates, but the Pirates won in extra innings.

The PBC Blog

Box Score

Statistics

Standings


The Pirates scored three runs in the first, but Yadier Molina's three-run homer tied it in the third.

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Cardinals starter Jake Westbrook failed to consistently throw strikes. He walked five, one intentional, in six-plus innings and allowed four runs on seven hits.

James McDonald faced one batter in the seventh before exiting. He allowed three runs on five hits, walked three and struck out five. He relied mostly on his fastball, but kept the Cardinals -- except for Molina -- from hitting it hard. A couple of batters tossed their bats aside in frustration after popping out.

Eight batters went to the plate for the Pirates in the first. Three of them hit the ball hard. Two of them didn't have a chance because Westbrook walked them. He threw 27 pitches, only 14 for strikes, despite falling behind only three batters.

Tabata walked, went to third on Alex Presley's double and scored on Andrew McCutchen's single. Ryan Doumit's single scored Presley.

Garrett Jones walked and Josh Harrison flied out to right to score McCutchen to give the Pirates a 3-0 lead.

Westbrook shook off the first and induced three ground-ball outs in the second.

Molina tied the scored with a three-run home run in the second, a line-drive shot off McDonald's 1-0 fastball. Holliday walked and David Freese singled before Molina cleared the bases.

The home run was the 22nd McDonald allowed this season and the ninth in his past six starts.

In the fourth, Skip Schumaker walked on four pitches and went to second on Allen Craig's ground ball, before which he took off running. But McDonald jammed Pujols for a weak groundout and froze Holliday with a curveball to end the inning and keep the score tied at 3-3.

The Pirates took the lead in the fourth. Ronny Cedeno reached first on an infield single and McDonald bunted him to second. Tabata sliced a double down the right-field line to score Cedeno, and the Pirates led, 4-3.

McDonald retired the first two batters of the fourth before allowing singles to Molina and Rafael Furcal. Westbrook hit a hard liner to center, but right at McCutchen, and no runs scored.

Only a walk to Pujols marred McDonald's fifth. He held the Cardinals scoreless for the third, fourth and fifth after the three-run homer in the second.

McCutchen singled, his third hit of the game, in the seventh, but was caught stealing by a hefty margin.

Furcal singled to lead off the seventh and force McDonald from the game. Jason Grilli relieved him and got out of the inning. It was McDonald's fourth consecutive start where he pitched fewer than seven innings since reaching that threshold Aug. 4 against the Chicago Cubs. He entered the game with a 3-2 record and a 3.29 ERA in his past seven road starts.

His cousin, Darnell, an outfielder on the Boston Red Sox, pitched an inning in relief during the Red Sox's blowout loss to the Oakland Athletics Friday night as well.

First Published: August 27, 2011, 8:00 a.m.

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Starting pitcher James McDonald pitched six innings and gave up three runs Friday against the Cardinals in St. Louis.  (Tom Gannam/Associated Press)
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