ST. LOUIS _ The Cardinals spotted the Pittsburgh Pirates a three-run lead in the first inning Sunday but roared back for a total of six runs in the first and second. At that point, the Cardinals stopped scoring. Pittsburgh didn't, erupting for five runs in the seventh and two in the eighth to pull out a 10-6 win, their third in succession in the finale of a four-game series.
A record paid crowd of 48,555 at the newest Busch Stadium enjoyed two-run homers by Paul Goldschmidt in the first and Jose Martinez in the second and nearly saw another Martinez homer in the ninth but left fielder Bryan Reynolds pulled it back.
It saw Cardinals starter Dakota Hudson rebound from a long, unproductive first inning to make it through the next five innings unscathed.
But right-hander John Brebbia, all by untouchable this season with an 0.83 earned run average, surrendered a three-run, game-tying homer to Josh Bell, who had four hits, in the five-run Pittsburgh seventh after reliever Tyler Webb had walked and hit the first two batters. The winning hit was a two-run pinch double by Adam Frazier off Brebbia after the Cardinals all but intentionally walked pinch hitter Melky Cabrera.
Manager Mike Shildt had gone to right-hander Brebbia to face the switch hitting Bell even though Bell had had seven of his nine home runs hitting left-handed.
"I wouldn't mind flipping him over to the other side but we got a leadoff walk and a hit batter and you want to react to what you're seeing," said Shildt. "Brebbia's been one of our better guys all year and he's been good against lefties, too. It didn't seem like Tyler his best stuff. It wasn't about matchups as much as it was about stuff."
The Cardinals' loss was their ninth in 11 games and concluded a dismal 2-5 home stand.
But Shildt said, "I can confidently tell you that this is a group (of players) I have zero doubt about. It is an ebb and flow of the season. I don't want to over-react and, again, I don't want to under-react.
"We just weren't able to bring it home. We had a couple of guys who have been very good for us who just didn't have good days."
