Bucs fall to Cards as Carpenter homers
PITTSBURGH — Matt Carpenter hit his second pinch, three-run home run in as many days, leading the St. Louis Cardinals over the Pittsburgh Pirates 7-3 on Friday night.
Carpenter connected off Duane Underwood Jr. in the sixth inning to put the Cardinals ahead 6-1 while batting for John Gant (2-2). Carpenter was batting .096 he he followed Tyler O’Neill’s single and Andrew Knizer’s walk with a drive to right-center for his third home run this season.
Carpenter took Philadelphia ace Aaron Nola deep Thursday in a game the Cardinals won 4-3 in 10 innings.
O’Neill had three hits, including a leadoff home run in the fourth inning. The drive cleared the bullpens in center field, to give the Cardinals a 3-0 lead.
Nolan Arenado hit run-scoring bloop doubles in the first and third innings, the first Cardinals batter with two doubles in a game since Yadier Molina against the Los Angeles Dodgers on April 9, 2019.
St. Louis won for the sixth time in eight games.
JT Brubaker (2-2) allowed three runs and seven hits in five innings.
