The Pirates couldn’t find the knockout blow against Cardinals starter Kyle Leahy — a pitcher who entered the day with a 5.63 ERA across five starts – until the sixth inning in their 11-7 loss to the Cardinals tonight at PNC Park.
Leahy pitched five scoreless innings and struck out seven and allowed nine hits overall, including a solo home run to Oneil Cruz and a two-run home run to Ryan O’Hearn in the sixth inning. He rang up a season-high seven strikeouts and escaped a few early chances, inducing the Pirates hitters into two double plays.
"Yeah, I think we did hit some balls on the ground but we put some good swings on some balls too and hit some in the air," said Don Kelly. "Silver linings aren’t worth anything, we didn’t get the ‘W’ but I think the offense as far as competing and continuing to grind out."
After Leahy exited the game, the offense managed to scratch together four more runs on four hits, including Konnor Griffin's first home run at PNC Park. Two additional double plays killed rallies.
“I’m really proud of the guys," said Braxton Ashcraft. "... and the way they battled through that."
THE ASYLUM
Missed opportunities early for hitters
The Pirates couldn’t find the knockout blow against Cardinals starter Kyle Leahy — a pitcher who entered the day with a 5.63 ERA across five starts – until the sixth inning in their 11-7 loss to the Cardinals tonight at PNC Park.
Leahy pitched five scoreless innings and struck out seven and allowed nine hits overall, including a solo home run to Oneil Cruz and a two-run home run to Ryan O’Hearn in the sixth inning. He rang up a season-high seven strikeouts and escaped a few early chances, inducing the Pirates hitters into two double plays.
"Yeah, I think we did hit some balls on the ground but we put some good swings on some balls too and hit some in the air," said Don Kelly. "Silver linings aren’t worth anything, we didn’t get the ‘W’ but I think the offense as far as competing and continuing to grind out."
After Leahy exited the game, the offense managed to scratch together four more runs on four hits, including Konnor Griffin's first home run at PNC Park. Two additional double plays killed rallies.
“I’m really proud of the guys," said Braxton Ashcraft. "... and the way they battled through that."
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