PITTSBURGH _ The Pittsburgh Pirates arrived at this weekend series along the Allegheny River a lot like the Cardinals did _ afloat in the standings because of how well they've done against losing teams, like the Reds.
They still waited for a chance to show they could compete with a winner.
They did so, historically.
The Pirates leapfrogged the Cardinals in the standings and set a new club record for wins before May 1 by following rookie Nick Kingham to a 5-0 victory at PNC Park on Sunday. The Pirates completed a three-game sweep of the Cardinals and did so by absolutely nullifying the Cardinals' lineup. From the ninth inning Friday to the ninth inning Sunday, the Cardinals were outscored, 15-2.
They went from having a save opportunity in Friday night's game to not having much of any scoring opportunity Sunday afternoon.
Kingham retired the first 20 batters he faced, and he threw seven shutout innings in his major-league debut. By the time the Pirates' rather dominant bullpen was done, the Cardinals had mustered three hits. They did not get a runner safely to second base until Kolten Wong's pinch-hit double with one out in the ninth inning.
The Cardinals didn't have two runners on base at the same time until there were two outs in the ninth inning.
The Cardinals struck out 11 times, nine of them to Kingham.
Luke Weaver pitched well through five innings and held the Pirates scoreless as Kingham was perfect. Like Jack Flaherty the night before, Weaver slipped into trouble in the sixth inning and on his third time through the lineup. The last four Pirates Weaver faced reached base against him and three of them scored, one after he left the game to the bullpen.
