The Pittsburgh Pirates defeated the St. Louis Cardinals 7-2 Sunday. Max Kranick was promoted from Triple-A Indianapolis for the start, and pitched five perfect innings before rain stopped the game for more than an hour. He struck out three Cardinals while earning his first major league victory in his debut. The Cardinals picked up their first hit of the game in the seventh inning.
Adam Frazier and Ben Gamel led the Pirates with six of their 12 hits. Gamel and Gregory Polanco hit home runs. The Bucs took three of four games in the series and have won six of their last nine games.
The Pirates visit the Colorado Rockies for the first of three games this evening. Game time is 5:10pm. Pre-game on WISR is 4:45pm.
During his weekly Sunday pre-game show, Pirates general manager Ben Cherington announced the team will continue carrying a six-man starting rotation after the All-Star break in July.