Nolan Gorman homered and drove in three runs and Alec Burleson and Jordan Walker drove in three runs apiece to lead the St. Louis Cardinals to an 11-7 win over the Pittsburgh Pirates on Tuesday night.<\/p>\n
JJ Wetherholt and Ivan Herrera, the top two hitters in the Cardinals’ batting order, scored three runs each. Burleson, Walker and Masyn Winn each finished with two hits.<\/p>\n
Gorman opened the scoring with a homer leading off the second, his fourth of the season. Victor Scott II started a two-run second with his first home run of the season before Wetherholt doubled and scored a single by Walker.<\/p>\n
The Cardinals extended their lead to 6-0 in the fifth when Burleson doubled in a run and Walker and Gorman followed with consecutive sacrifice fly balls.<\/p>\n
Kyle Leahy (3-3) allowed three runs and nine hits in 5 1\/3 innings with seven strikeouts. The Pirates scored all three runs in the sixth on homers by Oneil Cruz and a two-run shot by Ryan O’Hearn, cutting their deficit to 6-3.<\/p>\n
The Cardinals broke the game open with three runs in the seventh inning and two in the eighth. <\/p>\n
The Cardinals have won the first two games of the four-game series after entering on a four-game losing streak. The Pirates have lost three in a row for the first time this season.<\/p>\n
Braxton Ashcraft (1-2) was rocked for six runs in 4 1\/3 innings after being activated from the bereavement\/family medical emergency list before the game. He allowed six hits, struck out seven and walked three.<\/p>\n
Pirates rookie Konnor Griffin hit a solo homer in the ninth inning. O’Hearn had two hits and three RBIs and Nick Gonzales had two hits and knocked in two runs.<\/p>\n
Cardinals RHP Andre Pallante (2-2, 4.26 ERA) starts on Wednesday night against rookie RHP Bubba Chandler (1-2, 4.88).<\/p>\n