The Pittsburgh Pirates are counting on Oneil Cruz’s speed for spectacular plays, and the converted center fielder provided a pair of them against the St. Louis Cardinals.
Cruz made a fantastic diving catch to rob Masyn Winn of a hit in the first inning, but it was what he did on the basepaths that scored the Pirates the go-ahead run in the eighth inning.
Cruz drew a two-out walk, raced to third on Connor Joe’s single to right and scored on a single by Nick Gonzales as the Pirates held on for a 3-2 win Thursday night at Busch Stadium.
The Pirates (72-81) improved to 24-26 in one-run games and avoided being swept by the Cardinals in the four-game series. The Pirates will visit Cincinnati on Friday for a three-game weekend series.
“It’s good. You never want to get swept,” Gonzales said in a postgame on-field interview with SportsNet Pittsburgh. “We don’t want to lose any games. We’re trying to win every game, so it’s good to finish with a ‘W.’”
Luis Ortiz recorded his sixth quality start, allowing two runs on five hits and two walks with seven strikeouts in six innings. The right-hander got seven whiffs and three strikeouts with his slider, mixing the breaking pitch with his four-seam fastball, sinker and cutter to generate almost as many strikeouts as he did groundouts (eight).
“My whole focus today was to get weak contact, and the strikeouts showed up,” Ortiz said through translator Stephen Morales on the SportsNet Pittsburgh postgame show. “That was not on my mind to strike people out, but I made quality pitches and that’s what happened and I’m pretty happy.”
After missing three games in center because of soreness in his left ankle, Cruz made his mark with an impressive play. He ranged to his left and covered 54 feet, stretching out his 6-foot-7 frame to catch Winn’s low liner, a play that had a 20% catch probability.
“That was a heck of a play,” Pirates manager Derek Shelton said. “I don’t know if that’s not a five-star play what a five-star play is.”
Gonzales, who went 2 for 4 with a triple, a run scored and delivered his team-best 10th game-winning RBI, got the Pirates going with a triple to the right-field corner in the fourth inning. Gonzales took advantage as Jordan Walker couldn’t get a handle on the ball as it bounced around the fence, then scored on a sacrifice fly to center by Bryan De La Cruz to give the Pirates a 1-0 lead.
The Cardinals tied the score in the bottom of the fourth when Paul Goldschmidt hit a leadoff single, advanced to second on a walk by Nolan Arenado and scored on a single to center by Brendan Donovan. Cruz attempted to throw Goldschmidt out at home plate, but first baseman Rowdy Tellez cut off the throw.
Bryan Reynolds led off the sixth with a single, advanced to second on Tellez’s groundout to second and to third on Erick Fedde’s wild pitch but was stranded when Gonzales lined out to center to end the frame.
The Cardinals went ahead in the bottom of the sixth when Goldschmidt singled to right, stole second base and scored on a double to left-center by Donovan for a 2-1 lead.
But Yasmani Grandal hit Cardinals reliever Andrew Kittredge’s 3-1 slider 393 feet to right for his eighth home run, a two-out solo shot that tied the score at 2-2 in the seventh.
The Pirates took a 3-2 lead in the eighth. After Reynolds grounded into a double play, Cruz drew a walk against lefty JoJo Romero. When the Pirates turned to Joe to pinch-hit for Tellez, the Cardinals countered by bringing in righty Ryan Fernandez. Cruz advanced to third on Joe’s single to right, then scored when Gonzales hit an 0-2 slider for a single to center.
“Going first to third, he’s not going to be 100%,” Shelton said, “but his 70% is still really fast.”
Donovan, who went 4 for 4 with a double and two RBIs, hit a leadoff single in the ninth. Pirates lefty Aroldis Chapman got pinch hitter Luken Baker to fly out to left, Walker to fly out to right and Pedro Pages to ground into a forceout at second to earn his 10th save of the season and pass John Wetteland to move into 15th place all-time with 331 in his career. Only three lefty relievers have more saves than Chapman.
“He’s had a heck of a career,” Shelton said. “He’s making a very strong case to be a Hall of Famer. He’s the all-time left-handed leader as a reliever in strikeouts. This guy continues to get better with age. He’s very impressive.”
Kevin Gorman is a TribLive reporter covering the Pirates. A Baldwin native and Penn State graduate, he joined the Trib in 1999 and has covered high school sports, Pitt football and basketball and was a sports columnist for 10 years. He can be reached at kgorman@triblive.com.
