Pittsburgh Pirates vs St. Louis Cardinals Box Score on Sep 08, 2017

The Sports Xchange
Sep 9, 2017

ST. LOUIS -- Make it five in a row for St. Louis Cardinals rookie Luke Weaver, thanks to his arm and his bat.

Weaver fanned seven Friday night in 5 2/3 scoreless innings and contributed to two run-scoring rallies as St. Louis won for the seventh time in nine games with a 4-1 verdict over the Pittsburgh Pirates at Busch Stadium.

Weaver (5-1) scattered seven hits, all singles, and walked none in winning his fourth straight start. He has 36 strikeouts in 25 1/3 innings during the stretch, allowing only four runs.

Offensively, Weaver knocked in the first run and started a two-run fifth with a single. The Cardinals (73-68) were outhit 9-5 but were able to reduce their National League Central deficit to four games as Milwaukee blanked the Chicago Cubs 2-0.

Four relievers got the last 10 outs for St. Louis. Juan Nicasio, who was let go by Pittsburgh late last month on a waiver claim by Philadelphia, got the save in his Cardinals' debut by retiring all four men he faced.

It was the third save of the year for Nicasio, acquired in a trade on Tuesday.

Trevor Williams (6-8) took the loss for the Pirates (67-75), giving up four hits and four runs in 4 2/3 innings. He walked four and whiffed five.

Pinch-hitter Adam Frazier's two-out RBI single in the seventh allowed Pittsburgh to avoid a shutout.

St. Louis broke the scoring seal in the bottom of the third. Greg Garcia looped a leadoff double down the left field line, moved to third on an infield out and scored when Weaver's broken-bat bouncer to third was hit too slowly for David Freese to make a throw home.

An inning later, the Cardinals made it 2-0. Tommy Pham drew a leadoff walk and reached third on Jose Martinez's single. With one out, Randal Grichuk beat out a potential double play ball to third, enabling Pham to score.

Martinez doubled the lead in the fifth, lining a two-out, two-run single up the middle that scored Weaver and Matt Carpenter.

NOTES: Pittsburgh activated OFs Gregory Polanco and Adam Frazier (hamstrings) from the 10-day DL. Polanco started in RF and hit third. The Pirates gave CF Andrew McCutchen his first day off since Aug. 25. ... St. Louis 3B Matt Carpenter and OF Tommy Pham (shoulders) were back in the lineup after not starting the last three nights in San Diego. SS Paul DeJong wasn't in the starting lineup for the first time since July 7. ... Cardinals 2B Kolten Wong (back) didn't start for the fifth straight game but was available for late-game duty if needed and could return to the lineup Saturday night.