The St. Louis Cardinals defeated the Pittsburgh Pirates 5-2 last night to open a three-game series. Pirates starting pitcher Ivan Nova allowed four runs on six hits and did not make it through the fourth inning. He allowed two, two-run home runs. Nova’s record fell to 7-9 this season. Josh Bell had the Pirates only extra-base hit, a double in the fifth inning. Colin Moran and Francisco Cervelli had two hits each.The Bucs have now lost 11 of their past 14 games, and have fallen four games under .500. The Cardinals have won 22 of their past 29 to take over the top Wild Card spot in the National League.
The two teams play again tonight at 8:15pm. Pre-game on WISR is 7:50pm. Trevor Williams will go to the mound.
Pirates second baseman Josh Harrison has reportedly cleared waivers, and could be traded this week. The 31-year old infielder has a $10.5 million club option for next season, with a $1 million buyout.
The Philadelphia Phillies have acquired veteran slugger Jose Bautista from the New York Mets. The six-time All-Star, and former Pirate, is batting .196 with 11 home runs and 42 RBI’s.
The Altoona Curve were pounded again by Trenton, this time 8-1 last night. It was the first time since July 22nd that Altoona has lost back-to-back games. The Curve have fallen into a first-place tie in the Eastern League with Akron. Both teams have clinched playoff berths. Altoona will host Trenton again tonight at 6pm.
The Pirates Triple-A club, Indianapolis are also in the thick of a playoff chase. The Indians fell to Toledo 4-2 last night to fall one game behind Columbus in the International League Western Division.
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