Burleson's Clutch Double Propels Cardinals Past Pirates 2-1; Skenes Struggles Continue Against St. Louis

ST. LOUIS (AP) — Alec Burleson smashed a two-run double, Matthew Liberatore fanned eight batters over his longest outing of the season spanning seven innings, and the St. Louis Cardinals defeated the Pittsburgh Pirates with a score of 2-1 on Tuesday evening.

Liberator (3-3) gave up only one run on three hits and three walks as the Cardinals secured their longest winning streak of the season at four games. Gordon Graceffo recorded his inaugural career save with a flawless ninth inning.

Paul Skenes (3-4) gave up two runs on three hits over six innings, recording six strikeouts but also issuing four walks as Pittsburgh suffered their sixth consecutive loss and their ninth defeat in their last ten games. In his career starts against St. Louis, Skenes dropped to 0-4.

In the sixth inning, with two outs, Burleson hit a double off Skenes, driving in Nolan Arenado and Willson Contreras. Burleson (who is now batting .400 after six at-bats) has accumulated more hits against Skenes throughout his career than against any other Major Leaguer.

Ke'Bryan Hayes' line drive to the opposite field drove in Oneil Cruz, giving the Pirates a 1-0 advantage in the sixth frame. Over his past 16 games, Hayes has recorded hits in 14 of them, including three multi-hit performances in his last four outings.

Hayes' hit ended a five-inning drought for Liberatore, who had struck out 17 of the previous 19 batters since his last hit.

Contreras, having walked twice, continued his consecutive on-base game streak to nine matches.

Key moment

Following the Pirates' surge ahead in the top of the sixth inning, Skenes managed to retire the first two hitters but faced difficulties later in the same inning. The sequence began when Arenado got a base hit, followed by Contreras drawing a walk; then Burleson contributed further with his double.

Key stat

In his five starts against the Cardinals spanning 32 2/3 innings, Skenes has received just three total runs of support.

Up next

The Pirates will have RHP Mitch Keller (1-3, 4.38 ERA) pitching on Wednesday in the final game of the series, with the Cardinals countering with RHP Sonny Gray (3-1, 4.12 ERA).

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