The St. Louis Cardinals defeated the Pittsburgh Pirates 18-4 to complete a three-game series sweep. The Cardinals had 20 hits in the game, and built a 12-0 lead in the first five innings. The Pirates were held scoreless until getting four runs in the bottom of the ninth inning off Cardinals catcher Yadier Molina.
The Pirates are now a season-worst 16-24 and have lost seven of their last 10 games. Ke’Bryan Hayes committed his seventh error of the season, and the Bucs are now tied for the MLB lead in errors.
The Pirates host the Colorado Rockies to begin a three-game series tonight at PNC Park. First pitch is 6:35pm. Pre-game on WISR begins at 6:10pm. 0-4 JT Brubaker will start for the Bucs. He has a 5.50 ERA. Former Pirate Chad Kuhl will start for the Rockies. He is 3-2 with a 3.86 ERA this season.
The Pirates are promoting two pitchers from Triple-A Indianapolis to the big league club today. Roansy Contreras will return as a starting pitcher after completing 20-1/3rd innings with a 2.66 ERA and 24 strikeouts for Indianapolis. Contreras pitched 7-2/3rds innings with the Pirates earlier this season. Also being brought up is Yerry De Los Santos, who will likely be part of the bullpen.
The Pittsburgh Penguins have signed winger Bryan Rust to a new six-year $30.75 million contract that will keep the 30-year old with the team through the 2028 season. Rust was going to be one of the Penguins key free agents in the off-season.