ST. LOUIS — Bases loaded situations had been a painfully unsuccessful scenario for the Cardinals, and it looked like it might be part of another frustrating loss marked by missed opportunities. But Tommy Edman smacked an RBI single through the infield with two outs and the bases loaded to drive in the winning run and breathe a collective sigh of relief for the club and its followers on Sunday afternoon.
The Cardinals scored two runs in the bottom of the 10th inning, capped by the third career walk-off RBI for Edman.
For the second straight day the Cardinals were forced into extra innings but this time celebrated a 5-4 win in front of an announced crowd of 40,346 in the finale of the four-game set at Busch Stadium on Sunday afternoon. With the win, the Cardinals salvaged a series split.
The Cardinals left 12 men on base and came up empty on their first attempt with the bases loaded in the final inning before Edman delivered the decisive blow on the day third baseman Nolan Arenado and reliever Packy Naughton celebrated birthdays.
Arenado went 2 for 5, while Willson Contreras (2 for 4, double), Nolan Gorman (2 for 5) and Edman (2 for 5) also had multi-hit days.
All hands on deck in outfield
Outfielder Alec Burleson left the game after fouling a pitch off of his right shin in the third inning. He finished that at-bat and grounded out to second base, but Dylan Carlson replaced him in left field in the top of the fourth inning.
Burleson, who entered the day batting .293 with a .341 on-base percentage and a .512 slugging percentage in 11 games, started in left field and batted in the No. 2 spot in the batting order. Lars Nootbaar, activated from the injured list prior to Saturday’s game, made his second consecutive start in center field. Jordan Walker started in right field.
The Cardinals flip flopped Nootbaar and Carlson to start the fifth inning with Carlson having moved to center field and Nootbaar to left field.
The Cardinals said Burleson is day-to-day with a shin bruise.
Nootbaar delivered a game-tying home run in the sixth inning with a runner on and two outs with the Cardinals trailing 3-1. He blasted a first-pitch cutter from Pirates starting pitcher Mitch Keller over the right-field wall for his first home run of the season.
Nootbaar’s drive came off the bat with an exit velocity of 109 mph and traveled an estimated 382 feeet.
Tyler O’Neill also got into the game as a pinch runner in the 10th inning.
No decision for Mikolas
Cardinals starting pitcher Miles Mikolas made his 20th career appearance (17th start) against the Pirates, the most of any opponent he’s faced in the majors. His most recent previous outing against the Pirates at Busch Stadium came in the second game of a doubleheader on June 14, 2022, and Mikolas took a no-hitter into the ninth inning. He got two outs and two strikes before Cal Mitchell’s double broke up the bid.
The Pirates wasted little time getting into the hit column and the scoring column on Sunday. Center fielder Lars Nootbaar’s diving attempt at a catch on a sinking line drive turned into a leadoff triple for Ke’Bryan Hayes, then Bryan Reynolds’ deep drive to right field allowed Hayes to tag up and score the game’s first run just two batters into the day.
The Pirates added a run in the second inning after Mikolas issued a two-out walk to No. 8 hitter Tucupita Marcano with one runner already on base, then Pirates catcher Austin Hedges smacked an RBI single into left field to make Mikolas pay for the walk.
Mikolas’ outing finished one out shy of a potential quality start. He came out with two outs and runners on the corners after he gave up a single to Rudolfo Castro in the fifth. Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol went to reliever Andre Pallante, who’d been unavailable for the first three games of the series, to face Marcano (two walks). Marcano hit a grounder to second base where Brendan Donovan committed a fielding error. The Pirates to a 3-1 lead on the play with an unearned run charged to Mikolas.
Mikolas finished the day having allowed three runs (two earned) on seven hits and two walks in 5 2/3 innings. He also struck out four. His ERA this season now sits at 8.10.
Contreras contributes early
Contreras, who snapped an 0-for-22 slump with his ninth-inning RBI single on Friday night, didn’t wait so long to drive in a run on Sunday.
Contreras drove in the club’s first run of the day with a two-out infield single in the bottom of the first when his 110-mph bullet that got on Pirates first baseman Carlos Santana so fast that he never got his glove on it before it deflected towards the outfield grass in center field.
Contreras, who came off the bench as a pinch hitter in the ninth inning on Saturday and remained in the game for the 10th, now has four RBIs this season.
The single drove in Paul Goldschmidt, who walked to extend his on-base streak to each of the first 16 games this season.
After Goldschmidt’s walk, birthday boy Nolan Arenado singled to left field to move Goldschmidt into scoring position.
Contreras also doubled and scored in the sixth, then he struck out swinging with runners on second and third in eighth inning.
