The Pittsburgh Pirates blew a four-run lead to lose their eighth game in a row Sunday, falling 11-9 to the St. Louis Cardinals. Cardinals rookie outfielder Lane Thomas hit a grand slam in the seventh inning of reliever Kyle Crick to give St. Louis the lead. Crick’s record fell to 3-7.
Pirates first baseman Josh Bell broke out of a home run slump with two round-trippers and four RBI’s, but the Pirates still lost for the 24th time in their last 28 games. Bell had not hit a home run since July 5th.
The loss drops the Bucs to 21 games under .500 with a record of 48-69.
Pirates rookie outfielder Bryan Reynolds had three hits Sunday. He remains third in the batting race at .330 overall. The Pirates begin a three-game series in Los Angeles against the Angels tonight. Game time is 10:07pm. Pirates pre-game begins at 9:40pm on WISR.