PITTSBURGH _ Amazing the flaws a lot of offense can paper over.
The Cardinals laid it on thick with three home runs in the first three innings and 11 runs by the end of the eighth inning, and that was enough to hold on through a lot of bullpen turbulence for an 11-10 victory Friday night at PNC Park. The win was the Cardinals' 10th in their past 13 games, and that allowed them to keep pace with the division-leading Cubs.
They are 1{ games back in the N.L. Central.
Carlos Martinez gave the Cardinals seven strong innings, and the bullpen could not give the Cardinals a pleasant eighth. Rookie Mike Mayers allowed five runs (four earned) and Jose Martinez dropped a routine fly out to make a game of what should have been a rout. Mayers had to be lifted in the inning so that Brett Cecil could finish it. The tighter game also meant a save situation, and that brought Matt Bowman into the game. Again.
Bowman walked three consecutive batters to load the bases and put the tying run on first. The Cardinals had to go to another reliever.
Again.
Zach Duke, the former Bucs starter, entered to try his hand at the save. Didn't work. So the Cardinals went to Seung Hwan Oh. Again. Third try to close the game was the charm. After a deep drive by David Freese that was caught at the warning track, Oh struck out Elias Diaz to end the game.
Infielder Max Moroff highlighted the eighth inning for the Bucs with a home run into the Allegheny River beyond the right-field seats. A fan dove into the river to retrieve the ball. Moroff is the 30th different player to hit the ball into the water on the fly or on a bounce. It has happened 44 times.
His two-run shot off Mayers were the first two runs of the eighth inning that put Pittsburgh in position to make the ninth a dilemma for the Cardinals.
