WILLIAMSPORT, Pa. _ The commissioner made his way through the stands handing out pins. Neon yellow highlighted _ literally _ the Pirates' color scheme, and nicknames graced the backs of the jerseys _ Cutch, J-Mo, Nightmare (take a wild guess which lefty reliever rocked that moniker). A drum line lent a Saturday morning in October feel to a Sunday evening in August.
The most drastic departure from major league reality Sunday was represented by the fact that Commissioner Rob Manfred could seemingly give the entire crowd a pin in about half an hour. BB&T Ballpark at Historic Bowman Field, usually the home of the short-season Williamsport Crosscutters but Sunday night the host of a major league game, only seats 2,500.
Everything was different but the playing field, redone this season to match MLB specifications, and the stakes. The Pirates' 6-3 victory against the St. Louis Cardinals in the MLB Little League Classic helped the Pirates to a series split.
Major League Baseball chose the Pirates and Cardinals for the inaugural event, held across town from and in conjunction with the Little League World Series. Both teams spent the morning with Little Leaguers, watching their games, touring their facilities, signing autographs and taking selfies.
"We thought this was going to be a great day," Manfred said. "I have to say: Even better than I expected. Everything from watching the kids get off the bus with the players to seeing the players in the stadium interacting with the kids, it's just absolutely phenomenal."
By splitting the series with the Cardinals, the Pirates improved to 60-64 but still trail the Chicago Cubs by 6 { games.
The Pirates got on Mike Leake early with three runs in the first. Another three in the third knocked him from the game.
Starling Marte singled to begin the bottom of the first. As he neared third on Josh Harrison's double, he stepped awkwardly and slowed, returning to the base despite Joey Cora waving him home.
Head athletic trainer Todd Tomczyk and manager Clint Hurdle checked on Marte, but he remained in the game. He looked fine sprinting home on Andrew McCutchen's groundout. Josh Bell made sure Harrison didn't have to round third in any hurry. He sent Leake's cutter over the fence in right-center for his 21st home run of the season.
Jedd Gyorko cut that lead to one run in the second. Ivan Nova's first pitch was high, and Gyorko lofted a two-run homer to left.
Early this season, Leake looked like the pitcher the Cardinals spent $80 million to sign before the 2016 season. He had a 1.91 ERA on May 24 and had a .242 on-base percentage allowed. In 15 starts since then prior to Sunday, he had a 5.33 ERA and a .379 OBP allowed, and he gave up eight runs in 4 1/3 innings in his previous start.
That vulnerability began to show in the third. Marte singled again. So did Harrison. McCutchen singled to load the bases. Bell drove in two runs with his second hit of the game and Frazier brought home another.
Leake exited after allowing eight hits and six runs in three innings.
After Gyorko's home run, Nova settled in. He put runners on second and third with nobody out in the fourth, but stranded them there with two strikeouts and a groundout. The final pitch he threw resulted in an RBI single by Kolten Wong in the sixth. In 5 2/3 innings he allowed three runs and struck out five without walking a batter.
