Cardinals Edge Pirates 2-1, Hand Skenes Fourth Career Loss Against St. Louis

The St. Louis Cardinals (18-19) collected a 2-1 victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates (12-25) on Tuesday night at Busch Stadium with the help of dominate pitching from Matthew Liberatore and a clutch RBI double from Alec Burleson. The win marked the Cardinals’ fourth straight — their longest streak of the season, and once again dealt a blow to reigning NL Rookie of the Year Paul Skenes, who dropped to 0-4 in his career against St. Louis.

Starting Pitchers

Matthew Liberatore (STL): 7 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 8 K, 3 BB

Paul Skenes (PIT): 6 IP, 3 H, 2 ER, 6 K, 4 BB

Scoring Recap – All in the Sixth

Pittsburgh struck first when Oneil Cruz led off the top of the sixth with a walk, stole second and scored on Ke’Bryan Hayes’ RBI double to center, giving the Pirates a 1-0 lead.

The Cardinals responded quickly in the bottom half. Nolan Arenado singled and Willson Contreras followed with a walk. Alec Burleson then delivered the game-winning hit with a two-run double to left field, putting St. Louis up 2-1 and giving them the lead for good.

Gordon Graceffo earned his first career save, tossing a 1-2-3 ninth.

Game Notes

Alec Burleson continues to dominate Skenes, going 6-for-15 in his career against the right-hander, He holds the most hits any major leaguer has against the former LSU star.

Four of Skenes’ seven career losses have come at the hands of the Cardinals, despite a 2.75 ERA across five starts against the Birds. Pittsburgh has provided just three total runs in support during his time on the mound in those games.

Liberatore matched his career-high with eight strikeouts, tossing seven strong innings for his third win of the year.

Betting Recap

Cardinals ML (-102) cashed in a tight one and the UNDER 7 (-102) comfortably hit. Eric Sontag’s NRFI sweat paid off.

On Deck

The series finale is set for 12:45 p.m. CT on Wednesday. Cardinals ace Sonny Gray will take the mound against Mitch Keller for the Pirates as St. Louis goes for the sweep.