Pittsburgh Pirates vs St. Louis Cardinals Box Score on Jun 24, 2017

The Sports Xchange
Jun 24, 2017

ST. LOUIS -- Jordy Mercer and Josh Harrison each homered while Gerrit Cole pitched six solid innings Saturday night as the Pittsburgh Pirates dumped the St. Louis Cardinals 7-3 at Busch Stadium.

After giving up a homer to the first batter he faced, Cole (6-6) kept St. Louis off the board for the rest of his outing. He permitted one run and five hits, walking two and fanning five.

Mercer and Harrison each contributed an RBI to a three-run sixth which saw Pittsburgh (35-40) manage one hit. Mercer's infield out scored David Freese to make it 5-1.

Reliever John Brebbia gave the Pirates their last two runs, plunking Adam Frazier and Harrison in succession with the bases loaded.

Lance Lynn (5-5) allowed seven runs in his second consecutive start. Lynn lasted 5 2/3 innings, giving up six hits and three walks while fanning three. In his last two starts, Lynn has yielded six homers.

It was the third straight loss for the Cardinals (33-40), who are 12-25 in their last 37 games. They're seven games under .500 at this stage for the first time since 2007.

St. Louis got a pair of runs in the ninth on a pinch-hit single by Stephen Piscotty.

Pittsburgh started the scoring in the first inning. Josh Bell grounded a two-out RBI single just under the glove of second baseman Greg Garcia that plated Harrison.

St. Louis responded quickly in the bottom half. Leadoff hitter Matt Carpenter lined his 14th home run over the right-field wall, the 13th time in his career he's started a game by going deep.

Mercer snapped a 1-1 tie in the fourth. With Andrew McCutchen at first after a two-out bloop single, Mercer ripped a fastball right down the middle over the left-field wall for his seventh home run of the year.

Harrison upped the advantage to 4-1 in the fifth with his ninth homer, a liner to left off a hanging cutter.

NOTES: St. Louis CF Dexter Fowler (quad) returned to the lineup Saturday night after missing the previous two games. Fowler was injured in the 10th inning Wednesday night at Philadelphia. ... Cardinals C Yadier Molina (knee) was scratched from the lineup for the second straight game and replaced by Eric Fryer. Molina was struck on the knee by a foul tip in Thursday's 5-1 loss to the Phillies. ... Pittsburgh 1B/OF John Jaso's tiebreaking homer in the ninth inning Friday night was the 50th homer of his career. It was also his fifth homer of the season, four of which have occurred in the seventh inning or later.