The Pittsburgh Pirates defeated the St. Louis Cardinals 6-2 to win their second straight game and took the series with their division rivals. Brandon Lowe and Henry Davis hit home runs and Marcel Ozuna drove in two runs in the game. Lowe now has 13 home runs this season.
Rookie Konnor Griffin extended his hitting streak to eight games with a double. He also scored a run and stole his 11th base of the year.
Braxton Ashcraft struck out nine over seven innings, tying a career high. He allowed one run on four hits and improved to 3-2 this season and is carrying a 2.89 ERA.
The victory was the fourth consecutive road series win this season against National League Central Division opponents. They are now 26-24 this season.
The Pirates open a three-game series in Toronto tonight. First pitch is 7:05pm. WISR pre-game begins at 6:40pm. Bubba Chandler will start tonight’s game. He is 1-5 this season with a 5.14 ERA.
Saturday’s game begins at 3:05pm. WISR pre-game begins at 2:40pm.
Sunday’s game in Toronto begins at 12:10pm. NOTE: (WISR will not be carrying that game).
The Pirates are sending Billy Cook to Triple-A Indianapolis and bringing up hitting prospect Esmerlyn Valdez. Valdez has hit 10 home runs so far this season with Indianapolis. He had a rapid progression last season through the Pirates minor league system, climbing from Single-A Greensboro to Double-A Altoona. He then had an impressive fall baseball season in Arizona and was added to the Pirates 40-man roster. Valdez began this season at Triple-A. In addition to the 10 home runs, he was batting .253 with 29 RBI’s. Valdez had walked 33 times with 41 strikeouts in 46 games this season.
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