United Group Insurance

Pirates edge Cardinals 2-1, Friday night

Sports

August 18th, 2012 by Ric Hanson

ST. LOUIS (AP) — James McDonald halted a string of ineffective starts with six innings of two-hit ball, helping the Pittsburgh Pirates beat the St. Louis Cardinals 2-1 Friday night in a matchup of NL Central playoff contenders. Andrew McCutchen singled and scored on a passed ball in a two-run fourth for the Pirates, who also scored on a wild pitch that inning. Pittsburgh totaled 41 runs during its first six games in St. Louis this season. McDonald (11-5) was 0-2 in his previous four outings while allowing 20 earned runs over 21 1-3 innings. He coughed up a 7-1 lead in his last start when he allowed six runs in the fifth during a loss to the Padres.

Cardinals third base coach Jose Oquendo was ejected for arguing balls and strikes during the sixth inning. Oquendo jogged down the line after plate umpire Lance Barnett called a pitch from the Pirates’ James McDonald that appeared to be a borderline outside strike for a 2-2 count on Jon Jay on Friday night. Oquendo kicked dirt on the plate after getting tossed, then put himself between Barnett and manager Mike Matheny in the game, as the Cardinals trailed 2-0. First base coach Chris Maloney moved to third and bench coach Mike Aldrete moved to first.