Baseball

Nootbaar Hit His 13th Home Run of the Season to Right-Center Field; Pirates Beat Cardinals 7-6

AP Photo/Jeff Roberson
St. Louis Cardinals center fielder Lars Nootbaar is unable to catch an RBI triple by Pittsburgh Pirates’ Connor Joe during the fourth inning of a baseball game Saturday, Sept. 2, 2023, in St. Louis.

12:30 JST, September 3, 2023

ST. LOUIS (AP) — Josh Palacios hit a pinch hit home run off Drew VerHagen in the top of the ninth inning to help the Pittsburgh Pirates beat the St. Louis Cardinals 7-6 for their fifth straight win.

VerHagen (4-1) entered the game with one out in the ninth inning and hit Andrew McCutchen before Palacios, pinch hitting for Connor Joe, hit a 3-1 pitch into the right field seats for his seventh home run of the season.

Jordan Walker, Lars Nootbaar and Tyler O’Neill all homered for the Cardinals.

Bailey Falter entered the game in the third inning and allowed one run on one hit and a walk in 3 2/3 innings as the Pirates’s bulk reliever after opener Thomas Hatch allowed three runs on three hits in 2 1/3 innings.

Cody Bolton (1-0) pitched a perfect eighth inning for his first major league win, and David Bednar surrendered a single to Tommy Edman and hit Walker with a pitch before retiring Masyn Winn, Nootbaar and Paul Goldschmidt for his 31st save.

Drew Rom allowed three runs on five hits and walked three batters in 4 2/3 innings in his third career start and first at home.

After Edman singled to lead off the seventh inning, Walker hit a 1-0 pitch over the center field wall for his 13th home run of the season to push St. Louis ahead 6-5.

Miguel Andujar drove in Endy Rodríguez with a double to center field off Jacob Barnes for his first hit with the Pirates and scored two batters later on a Ji Hwan Bae single to give Pittsburgh a 5-4 lead in the sixth inning.

Nootbaar hit his 13th home run of the season to right-center field in the bottom of the fifth after O’Neill hit a three-run shot for his eight of the season in the second inning.

AP Photo/Jeff Roberson
St. Louis Cardinals’ Lars Nootbaar (21) is congratulated by teammate Paul Goldschmidt after hitting a solo home run during the fifth inning of a baseball game against the Pittsburgh Pirates Saturday, Sept. 2, 2023, in St. Louis.

Joe delivered an RBI triple in the fourth inning, and Bryan Reynolds and McCutchen added back-to-back RBI singles in the fifth to tie the game at 3.

St. Louis Cardinals’ Lars Nootbaar (21) is congratulated by teammate Paul Goldschmidt after hitting a solo home run during the fifth inning of a baseball game against the Pittsburgh Pirates Saturday, Sept. 2, 2023, in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)