With his mom watching from the Busch Stadium stands, the Pirates’ Josh Bell had a Mother’s Day to remember on Sunday.
For the Cardinals’ bullpen, it was a day to forget.
Bell became only the second Pirate since Roberto Clemente in 1962 to have four hits and five or more RBIs in a game against the Cardinals in St. Louis, helping the Pirates overcome a 6-3 deficit to defeat the Cardinals for the third day in a row.
Bell’s three-run homer off John Brebbia, his fourth hit, tied the game in the seventh inning after he already had doubled in two runs in the first inning.
The only Pirate since Clemente to have four hits and at least five RBIs in a game in St. Louis was Daryle Ward on May 26, 2004.
After being handed the 6-3 lead to begin the seventh, the combination of Tyler Webb, Brebbia and Giovanny Gallegos gave up seven runs in the next two innings.
Here is how the game broke down:
At the plate: Trailing 3-0 after the top of the first, the Cardinals quickly wiped out that deficit with four runs in the bottom of the inning, including a two-run homer by Paul Goldschmidt, his 10th of the season and first since April 22. One of the six hits in the inning was Dakota Hudson’s first in the major leagues … Jose Martinez increased the lead to 6-3 with a two-run homer in the second, but the Cardinals were limited to just five hits the rest of the game … Martinez, who had three hits, lost a bid for a second homer of the game on a leaping catch by Brian Reynolds in left field in the ninth inning.
On the mound: Hudson struggled through the first inning, throwing 31 pitches and giving up the three runs, but then settled down and shut out the Pirates over the next five innings … In the seventh, Webb issued a leadoff walk and hit a batter before Brebbia came in to face Bell, who launched a fly ball that snuck over the wagon gate in right field … The other two runs in the inning scored on a pinch-hit double by Adam Frazier that made it an 8-6 game … Gallegos gave up a two-run double to Colin Moran in the eighth … Luke Gregerson was able to pitch around a leadoff walk in the ninth.
Key stat: In his first 18 appearances this season, covering 21 2/3 innings, Brebbia had allowed a total of two runs, both coming on home runs. He had not allowed a run at home in 12 innings and also had not allowed any of six inherited runners to score.
Worth noting: The Cardinals had not scored a run in the first inning since May 1, and over the previous 10 games were a combined 3-of-32 in the opening inning … Yairo Munoz started in the leadoff spot in place of the resting Matt Carpenter and singled and scored on Goldschmidt’s homer. It was only the second run scored in the first inning by the Cardinals leadoff hitter and the first since the second game of the season …The homer broke a four-game drought for the Cardinals and was only the second hit in the first inning at home this season. The other was on April 8 by Marcell Ozuna … The first inning lasted 42 minutes and featured a combined 64 pitches … Carlos Martinez pitched 1 2/3 scoreless innings for Memphis on Sunday, striking out three while walking two. He threw 32 pitches … Two of the Cardinals’ best young prospects, third baseman Malcom Nunez and outfielder Juan Torres, were promoted from the extended spring program to Peoria on Sunday and will join the Chiefs on Monday. Nunez won the Triple Crown in the Dominican Summer League last year while Torres was one of two players acquired from the Indians last July in exchange for Oscar Mercado.
Looking ahead: The Cardinals get the day off on Monday after playing the last 17 days. They will start a three-game series on Tuesday night in Atlanta, with Jack Flaherty the scheduled starter.
