PITTSBURGH _ With a handful of chances to extend their lead and send the Cardinals home for the first time season, the Pittsburgh Pirates instead decided to let them hang around a little longer.
For the second time in this two-game series, the Cardinals rallied to erase the Pirates' lead and win in extra innings.
Kolten Wong's leadoff triple for the 10th inning keyed a two-run rally that led to a 5-4 victory late Wednesday night at PNC Park. Tyler O'Neill drove home Wong, and Harrison Bader later scored on a bases-loaded wild pitch to set the final score. Bader's run became the winner when two young Cardinals pitchers struggled to close out the 10th _ walking in the Pirates' fourth run of the night and having to shake free of a bases-loaded one-out mess.
The Pirates had led in the game 3-0.
They led Monday's game 4-0 and lost in the 11th inning.
Wong scored two of the Cardinals' runs as they rallied for all five runs in the seventh inning or later. The win sent the Cardinals home to St. Louis for Friday's opener with a 3-3 road trip to start the 2019 season.
John Gant got the win in relief as he pitched around trouble in the bottom of the ninth inning. He becomes the first Cardinal ever with two wins and a save in the first six games of any season.
Alex Reyes pitched the bottom of the 10th and tried to secure his second major-league save. He walked two and allowed a single to load the bases and force the Cardinals to go to starter Dakota Hudson for the groundball.
Hudson walked one batter before getting that grounder to collect his first career big-league save. Paul Goldschmidt had a catch down the right-field line in foul territory that gave the Cardinals their escape hatch because he also had the arm to keep the potential tying run stapled to third.
The Cardinals trailed by three runs going into the top of the seventh against Pirates starter James Taillon. Paul DeJong cracked the goose egg with a solo home run into the left-field seats. In the next inning, Bader followed with a deep drive into the Cardinals' bullpen beyond center field. Bader's two-run shot scored Wong and knotted the game at 3.
The Nos. 7-8 hitters in the Cardinals lineup have five homers combined on the six-game road trip.
For the second time in as many starts this season, Cardinals Opening-Day starter Miles Mikolas had trouble getting cooperation from the location and movement of his pitches. An off-speed pitch spun languidly over the plate and was hammered in the third inning for a solo homer by Jung Ho Kang. That threw the Pirates' lead to 3-0.
Pittsburgh scored two runs in the second inning on three hits, including a triple by No. 8 hitter Erik Gonzalez.
The Pirates clipped Mikolas for three runs on seven hits and two walks. In 10 innings so far this season _ five and five in two starts _ the Cardinals' right-hander has allowed six runs and four home runs. What he was able to do throughout his five innings Wednesday was keep the Pirates quiet with runners in scoring position.
Pittsburgh's inability to add on bought time for the Cardinals' rally.
The Pirates had nine at-bats with runners in scoring position through the first four innings. They had one hit. Adam Frazier's second of three hits against Mikolas was an RBI single that put the Pirates ahead 2-0. That was it. Mikolas allowed a couple walks in those spots, but the Bucs were largely unsuccessful at turning scoring opportunities into actual scores.
At the end of nine innings, the Bucs were one-for-12 with runners in scoring position. That included three chances in the ninth inning with the potential winning run at second base.
The Pirates finished 1-for-14 with runners in scoring position.
